Icy Flame
by smiley42
Summary: While pursuing a shard in the far North, Inuyasha and Kagome run into some unexpected trouble. Kagome takes a dive off a cliff, straight into the cave of one of the most notorious youkai of the time. KagomeHiei. Lemons possible in later chapters. InuYYH
1. Mount Doom

This is just an idea that's been floating around my brain for awhile. Pairings will be Hiei/Kagome. Read and enjoy, review if you feel like it or if you would like to see me continue the fic. Will contain lemons in the future.

Oh yeah, I don't own InuYasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

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It was freezing. No, freezing doesn't really do justice to the mind-numbing, finger biting, it-hurts-to-breathe frigidity in the air. Kagome had surpassed being merely cold days ago. In fact, it had probably been right when she had first set foot on this God-forsaken mountain.

The rumor of a jewel shard had sent them much further north than in the past. When they had arrived at the base of the mountain, she had been sure she sensed a shard nearby. They decided the shard was probably somewhere on the mountain and they would have to climb up and retrieve it.

After they had climbed for three days and had only gone a quarter of the way to the top, Inuyasha decided to leave Sango and Miroku behind. He could easily carry Kagome and they could travel much faster without the additional humans. That was two days ago. It seemed like two years had passed.

Yesterday it had started to snow, big, fluffy flakes that soon turned into a driving blizzard. Kagome was clinging to Inuyasha's back by sheer willpower alone. Well, that and the fact that her arms seemed to be frozen around his shoulders.

Suddenly she perked up. The jewel shard was coming in their direction. "Inuyasha! The shard is heading this way!" she screamed over the sound of the blizzard.

"How are you going to fight? I can't see anything in this storm," Kagome asked him while trying to see anything other than white.

"Keh, of course you can't! Weak human eyes. I can see fine," he lied. He didn't like lying to Kagome but he didn't want her to know that he was almost as blind as she was. This was going to be a difficult fight.

He pried Kagome's arms off of him and set her on the ground. 'She's going to have to get off of this mountain soon or she will get frostbite,' he thought. He didn't like the blue tinge he could see forming around her mouth, even though she had on a "par ka" as she called it.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, "the jewel shard is really close but it doesn't seem to be moving any more. What's it waiting for?"

Inuyasha had a feeling he didn't want to know. He looked around, trying to spot the elusive demon, or at least smell where he was, but the blizzard was not helping. Suddenly he felt the barest brush of icy fingers across his neck and he heard a grunt from Kagome's direction. He quickly spun around, only to find Kagome missing. "Kagome? Kagome!?! Where are you? Are you ok?" he continued to yell, even though he wasn't getting a response.

Malicious laughter assaulted his ears. "Are you calling for your precious miko? I'm afraid she took a little dive off the cliff, such a clumsy girl. Oh well, it's just you and me now, _hanyou_. Prepare to die!"

Inuyasha no longer cared about the stupid demon and the shard, he was desperate to get to Kagome. After all, it's not every day you learn your best friend has just been chucked off of a cliff. He made a dash for the edge of the cliff but was harshly thrown back.

"Ah ah, _hanyou_, you can't run off yet. We haven't even had a chance to be introduced. I am known as Shinbuu. Welcome to my home."

Inuyasha finally got a look at the youkai. He was tall, but not as tall as Sesshoumaru. He had short, spiky white hair and his skin seemed translucent. He had on a thin white shirt and white pants. He was also barefoot. He didn't seem to even notice the biting cold. Overall, he blended into the blizzard much better than Inuyasha would have liked. The only thing that stood out clearly was his eyes. They were like the deepest ocean green and the only color on the youkai. They seemed to glow in the gloom of the blizzard.

'Well shit. I need to beat this guy fast so I can find Kagome, if she even survived the fall from the cliff. Gah! Don't think like that, she is fine. The bitch is too stubborn to die, especially at the hands of a weak youkai like this guy.'

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Kagome was having a decidedly horrible day. Yes, she was alive; well she thought she was at least. It was hard to tell, since she really couldn't feel most of her body anymore. Luckily, she had been practicing how to cast protective barriers with her miko power. She didn't want to worry about Shippo while they were fighting, so she learned how to create a barrier to protect him. It just so happened, in her frazzled state of mind, that she cast a barrier around herself while she was plummeting from the cliff. While the barrier didn't entirely protect her, it did turn the fatal fall into a "that would probably really hurt if I could feel my body" kind of fall.

When Kagome first looked around all she saw was white. It took her a second to realize that she was buried in a snow drift. So, here she was, covered in snow, and finally warm for the first time in what seemed like years. Her brain knew that she was still freezing, but her body didn't believe it. It was only with supreme effort that she managed to drag her body from the drift. As she looked around, she noticed that while she had fallen quite a long ways, she was not at the bottom of the ravine. She had fallen onto a narrow ledge. She knew that she must be hallucinating because she spotted a cave opening that looked like it was lit from the inside. Figuring that any shelter had to be better than the blizzard, she began to crawl toward the entrance.

It was only after Kagome had crawled most of the way into the cave and spotted the fire, did she begin to realize that at least one other person had to be present to keep the fire going. It was with this realization that she finally figured out what her miko had been trying to tell her all along: there was a _youkai_ in the cave, and a powerful one at that. However, Kagome was never a girl to just give up. She had come this far and with heat only a few feet away, she wasn't going to let any _youkai_ keep her from it. She just hoped it was a friendly _youkai_ or at least that it didn't like to eat human women.

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Hiei awoke with a start. Apparently something or someone had just landed on the ledge outside of his cave. Normally, he would rush out and dispose of whatever creature had disturbed his rest; today, however, he was feeling rather lazy and decided to see what became of it. He figured the fall had probably killed whatever it was in the first place. Needless to say he was rather surprised when he heard what sounded like someone crawling in his direction. He had been pseudo-masking his _youki_ to avoid detection, but now it unleashed it in an obvious warning to lower-level _youkai_ to steer clear of the powerful demon housed in the cave.

Whatever was crawling toward him obviously had a death wish, since the increase in _youki_ didn't even cause a pause in the steady crawling. Now Hiei was extremely curious who would bother a high class demon when all they were able to do was crawl. He leaned back against the wall and feined sleep. When he saw the human woman crawl into his cave, he almost swore his jaw hit the ground. Luckily, she appeared entirely oblivious as she continued to crawl into the cave.

Suddenly she stopped and looked around. Hiei didn't know what spooked her, but decided maybe her survival instinct was finally kicking in. Deciding to sit back and watch the show, he continued "sleeping." He could see the girl staring lustily at the fire and he knew from the blue tinge on her lips that she must be freezing. He wondered if she would be stupid enough to try and stay in the cave, but his questions were answered when he heard her muttered "Maybe he's friendly. Yeah right, I just hope he doesn't like the taste of humans."

After muttering some more under her breath, the girl continued to crawl into the cave, curl up by the fire, cast a miko barrier around herself and promptly fall alseep. 'Wait a second! Miko barrier!?! So, that's how she managed to survive the fall. You would think a miko would have more sense than to invite herself into a cave inhabited by a strong _youkai_,' Hiei thought to himself. 'Stupid girl,' he muttered, only to be surprised when she responded with a sleepy "sit!"


	2. Realizations Galore

Don't expect an update this often to become standard, but since this is my first public story and I received some reviews, I'm pretty excited. A very big thank you to my reviewers!

Note: I don't watch the dubbed version of InuYasha, but I do watch the dubbed version of Yu Yu Hakusho (go figure), so all of the people, things, attacks, etc will be named accordingly. If you don't know what I'm talking about, drop me a review or an email and I'll clarify.

If _I_ owned InuYasha and Yu Yu Hakusho, they would immediately cross and contain steamy Kag/Hiei scenes. So I guess it's pretty obvious I don't own them.

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Inuyasha was having a rather rough day. Maybe not "nosedive off a cliff" rough, but certainly no walk in the park, either. With Kagome missing in action, he had no way to know exactly where Shinbuu was hiding the jewel shard. Of course, the easiest solution would be to cut him into tiny little pieces until the shard became obvious, but that plan had a few flaws. First of all, Shinbuu apparently did not relish the idea of being in tiny little pieces, and he was making it very difficult for Inuyasha. Secondly, Inuyasha was practically blind in the blizzard and even if the jewel shard was lying on the ground two feet away, he would have a very hard time spotting it. As if those two issues were not enough, Shinbuu had the additional advantage of perfectly blending into the background. The only thing Inuyasha could clearly see were his eyes.

Speaking of his eyes... "There! _Kaze no Kizu_!" Inuyasha watched as the bright yellow waves of energy swept out from Tessaiga and straight into Shinbuu. Well, rather, straight into where Shinbuu should have been. 'Where'd that sneaky little bastard go now?' Inuyasha had barely finished the thought when he felt a searing pain tear down his left side. He dropped to one knee and was surprised to see drops of red begin to coat the snow below him. 'At least the cold is good for something; it'll keep me from bleeding to death before I can kill this weak idiot and find Kagome.'

"Well well _hanyou_, it seems that there is more to your rusty little sword than first meets the eye. Luckily for me you swing it around like a child and your aim... Well, let's just say the broad side of barn would be safe from you..." Shinbuu continued to taunt Inuyasha, using his speed and agility, even in the heavy snow, to dart in and out of Inuyasha's striking range, causing the frustrated _hanyou_ to hit nothing but air. "Shinbuu come out! Fight me face to face like a man, not running and hiding like some sissy!" Inuyasha heard movement behind and slightly to the right. He dug is right hand into his wound, waiting for an opening. "Just a bit more... closer... I'm down and wounded... that's right, move a bit more to the right... Now!! _Hijin Kessou!_" Five blood red blades were flung towards a slightly surprised Shinbuu.

While Shinbuu normally would have had no problem dodging the blades, his surprise caused him to hesitate a second too long. One blade managed to slice about halfway across his forehead, just above his right eyebrow. Even though the wound was nothing more than a flesh wound (and a dent in his ego) it was a revelation to Inuyasha. The glistening red blood beginning to flow down Shinbuu's forehead was like a beacon in the harsh white surroundings. 'All I have to do is make the bastard bleed and he'll be visible from miles away.'

Hiei was perplexed. Never before had he seen a human woman so close, at least one who was alive and not running away screaming in terror. Indeed, this human seemed to be sleeping peacefully except for the fact that she was shivering. Contrary to popular belief, Hiei was not a totally emotionless, heartless guy. True, he did enjoy an occasional slaughter as much as the next _youkai_, but really he was a product of the world around him. Being the Forbidden Child can have some long term negative effects on a person. However, buried deep in his heart, forever hidden from view, was a tiny speck of kindness and compassion. Kagome was indeed a lucky girl, for it was this tiny little piece that was preventing her immediate, painful, messy demise. Hiei's rational mind of course blamed the lack of bloodshed on the fact that she was protected by a miko barrier, but some deep, dark corner of his mind knew that had he really wanted her dead, the barrier would not have been much of an issue.

It was this same tiny piece of Hiei's soul that looked at Kagome's blue lips and shivering form lying huddled on the ground and decided to take action. Ever so slowly and subtly Hiei's _youki_ increased the temperature in the cave. While there was certainly a fire available, it was more for light than reprieve from the biting cold. Had Hiei noticed what was going on, he certainly would have stopped the warming and probably would have dropped the temperature another twenty degrees, just for good measure. Since Hiei was half fire, half ice he rarely paid attention to the temperature around him. His body automatically adjusted itself to be either warmer or cooler, depending on the climate.

Once again Kagome was lucky and now the cave was hovering around a much more hospitable sixty-five degrees. Kagome finally began to come out of what certainly would have been the last nap of her life had the temperature not increased. She groggily rolled over, away from the fire. Hiei absently noticed that her barrier moved with her, which meant she had cast it around herself, rather than around her spot on the floor, a slightly more impressive feat. "Damn." That one word expressed a lot from the normally upbeat, happy-go-lucky girl. "Inuyasha? You around?" In her sleepy state of mind she knew she was supposed to remember something, but she couldn't quite grasp what it was. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was... in a cave...? 'When did that happen?' she thought absently. The cave was roomy but not huge. It was about eight feet to the ceiling and the room was about ten feet by twelve feet, although her measurements could be skewed because she was still lying down. There was a smaller tunnel off to her left which she assumed must lead outside.

Kagome pulled herself into a sitting position to better assess her whereabouts. She remember being freezing cold, clinging to Inuyasha while they hunted for the shard. She also remembered Inuyasha putting her down because the shard was nearby, but things became very fuzzy after that. "Inuyasha?" she called again, finally realizing he hadn't answered her previous question. She noticed she was sitting in a miko barrier, her own miko barrier, thankfully, and was just about to wave it away when some sort of premonition warned her that dropping it might not be the best course of action. She looked around, trying to figure out what had caused her hesitation to drop the barrier. She was sitting next to a blazing fire. She realized that the cave was well heated and decided the fire must be doing an excellent job. She looked across the fire into the most stunning set of ruby red eyes she had ever seen. Said eyes belonged to the spiky haired male leaned up against the wall. Her eyes continued around the room and she saw a bedroll spread out in the far corner of the room. She was also relieved to see her backpack a few feet away to her right.

'Hmm... ruby red eyes?' Something was definitely not right with this picture. She was sure she had not met anyone with eyes quite that shade before. Quite unexpectedly everything snapped into place for poor Kagome. She and Inuyasha had been fighting some hidden demon when she got pushed off the cliff. She had pulled herself out of the snowdrift and into a cave. A cave currently inhabited by a wide awake, male _youkai_. Her miko abilities also broke though about this time and let her know that not only was this a _youkai, _it was a very, very strong _youkai_. The other thing her miko was telling her was that Inuyasha was far enough away that she couldn't even sense his _youki_. 'Oh yeah, I'm in deep shit now.'

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Updates may be kind of random, mostly depending on how into the story I get. Also posted at MediaMiner dot org. Cheers!


	3. Healing

Ok, the story was semi-planned up to this point. Not so much anymore. I'm not sure exactly where the story is going, but wherever it is, we'll get there together. I still don't know if I'm going to add Sango and Miroku or which (if any) of the other minor characters I'll add into the story. Not sure where Inuyasha and Shinbuu are going either... oh well, onwards!

My chapters tend to be slightly over two pages typed in Word. Not extremely long, but not extremely short either. I find that if I try to type more than two pages, most of it ends up as filler anyway. Drop me an email or review and let me know if you would like for me to post longer chapters. Realize, however, that longer chapters mean longer time between updates, since I will still only work with two pages at a time.

Oh yeah, I will be messing with Hiei's height. He's not going to be a giant, but he will be taller than Kagome. If you can't stand a non-midget Hiei, you should probably move along.

Yeah, still don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho, although I wouldn't mind owning a piece of Sesshoumaru and Hiei. grin

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Hiei smirked as the woman's scent went straight from sleepy confusion to blinding terror. This was finally the reaction he was expecting. However, he was _not_ expecting her scent to return to normal a few seconds later. He blinked, wondering if she had cast a scent masking spell. He subtly sniffed the air. Nope, he could still smell her, and he even picked up the fading scent of her fear. That meant that she was no longer afraid of him. 'I can fix that easily enough,' he thought to himself. Even though she was a miko, she was either exhausted or extremely weak, since her barrier was little more than show at this point. Hiei could easily break through her barrier and he figured she knew this fact as well as he did. So why wasn't she afraid?

Kagome's mind was running furiously in circles. Her main thoughts seemed to be along the lines of 'oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.' She saw the _youkai_ across from her smirk, and she realized that he could smell her fear and he was enjoying her terror. She took a deep breath and forced herself to count backwards from 9,357. Yeah, she figured she would need a good long time in order to calm down. Suprisingly, she was only at 9,241 and she already felt much calmer than before. Kagome knew that her barrier was fairly weak and would probably only slow down the _youkai_ if he really decided to come after her. She really was feeling rather drained; apparently using pure energy to break a fall is not the easiest task in the world. She didn't dare put more power into her barrier for two reasons. One, it would probably piss of the _youkai_ she was currently residing with and two--it would drain her faster than she had the ability to recover, thus leaving her totally defenseless.

Kagome finally got up the nerve to look the _youkai_ over. He was still leaned up against the wall. The most distinguishable thing about his wardrobe was that it was... plain. Black baggy pants were tucked into tall black boots. Black sleeveless shirt. Black hair. 'Not a guy for color, I guess.' In fact, the only thing not black on the _youkai_ were his eyes, white belt, and white star in his hair; his hair that seemed to be standing on end. 'Strange.' He lifted a eyebrow and she realized she had been staring at him for quite a while. She blushed and looked down. 'I must be crazy. First Inuyasha, then his brother, and now a stranger. If I find _youkai_ men attractive then I must have a death wish or something.'

Her miko was driving her crazy. There was something important about this _youkai_ but she could not for the life of her figure out what it was. She couldn't even tell what variety of _youkai_ he was. So, as they say, curiosity killed the cat. She let the tiniest bit of her power out to barely brush against his _youki_, hoping to gather information about him. 'Well that went well.' She found he was fire... and ice. 'There's something about that combination that's important... what is it?' She also found that he was extremely fast. So fast, in fact, that she never even saw him move to his current location... on top of her. He was sitting on her stomach squeezing her throat and growling viciously. The strangest part was that her miko barrier was still there. He hadn't broken it; it had merely become closer to her body. She could see smoke coming up from the area near her throat and figured the _youkai_ was getting a rather nasty burn. The barrier was not helping to relieve the pressure, however, and she figured she had better try to talk her way out of this before she was no longer able to speak.

"Um... _Youkai-sama_," hey, being polite couldn't hurt, "I meant you no harm. I was merely trying to figure out what variety of _youkai_ you were, since I have rarely come across anyone so powerful." Flattery couldn't hurt, either. "I'm sorry that my barrier is hurting you, but I feel it is in my best interest to keep it around for a while."

Hiei looked down at the woman incredulously. Here he was, pinning her down and squeezing the life out of her and she wanted to hold a conversation!?! What more, she _apologized_ for her barrier causing him harm? Didn't she know he was a ruthless killer, the forbidden child?

Kagome looked at the _youkai_ above her. At least he didn't look quite so pissed anymore. He actually looked rather suprised. He had also loosened his hold on her neck, allowing some much-needed oxygen to be pulled into her empty lungs. He had a far-away look in his eyes and Kagome wasn't sure she should bring him back to the present. After all, she could breathe right now, which was rather nice. However, smoke was still rising from her throat and she figured the _youkai_ must be in pain, even if he didn't show it.

"_Youkai-sama_, if you get off of me, I'll heal the wounds I've caused on your hands; I know they must be causing you pain. My name is Kagome. A friend and I were looking for something on the mountain when I was pushed off the cliff above your cave. I'm sorry I just came in uninvited, but I was freezing to death and I noticed the fire. I hope you don't mind too much. I'll leave as soon as I can."

Hiei was snapped out of his thoughts of the past when the girl under him started babbling. He could smell that she was nervous but that she truly was concerned about his health. 'So her name is Kagome. I wonder what she is looking for and who pushed her off the cliff.' As a rule, Hiei didn't concern himself with the affairs of others. Somehow this woman had caught his attention though. She was a mystery, and Hiei always liked a good challenge. 'I'll let her live for now. She may prove to be amusing, plus I can just as easily kill her later.' With that thought, Hiei moved back to his position against the wall.

The girl was a constant surprise. Instead of being thankful that she was still alive and running out of the cave, or at the very least curling into a corner and shutting up, she was crawling closer to him. Hiei eyed her approach warily. She stopped about two feet away from him.

"_Youkai-sama_, please let me heal your hands. It's the least I can do to thank you for letting me stay here."

Hiei looked at his hands. His palms were scorched. Her holy power had burned through most of the layers of his skin. Hiei was used to pain, so he barely noticed the throbbing in his hands. He also knew that his _youkai_ healing would kick in and he would be back to normal in a few hours. However, as he looked over into her concerned eyes, he felt something he refused to identify stir deep inside of him. No one had ever been concerned about his welfare for as long as he could remember. He reluctantly stretched out his hands towards the girl and watched as she smiled brilliantly at him. He watched as she carefully placed her hands about an inch over his. Her hands began to glow the same pinkish color as her barrier. He had a strong urge to pull his hands away for the miko power, but he would never let a human woman intimidate him. His hands stayed.

Kagome watched his hands twitch and she wondered if he would pull back. She was not surprised when she saw him frown and his hands stayed. She figured his pride would not let him back out now. Soon all of her attention was on focusing her power. Holy power, in general, did not like to heal _youkai_. It took a great deal of concentration, willpower, and practice to learn how to use her power to heal _youkai_ instead of purifying them. Even though she had mastered the technique, it still took a great deal of concentration to bend her power to her will. She knew if she screwed this up that she would be dead before she realized her mistake. She finally felt her power submit to her will and she began to push the healing energy into the _youkai's_ hands.

Hiei felt the exact moment that she began to heal him. Her power washed over him in gentle waves of warmth. Her mind, which was usually well-guarded, became a bit more open. He felt strange emotions--concern, friendship, anxiety, happiness and many more he couldn't even begin to identify. He watched as his hands slowly began to heal. This was the first miko he had ever heard of who could heal a _youkai_. At first he believed that she just wanted him to drop his guard long enough that she could purify him. He didn't really believe she would heal him.

When he was healed and the girl was crawling back to her spot on the other side of the fire, he noticed that her barrier was much, much weaker than before. 'She took power from her barrier to heal me? Is this woman insane?' Still, the tiny, hidden piece of Hiei's heart was smiling in joy.

Kagome was drained. She knew she was low on power, but she actually had to take power out of her barrier to completely heal the _youkai_. She considered dropping the barrier entirely, since it was pretty useless now, but decided against it. It would at least wake her if anything trying to attack her. 'Now is as good a time as any for a nap. I won't be able to do much else, anyway. I wonder what his name is?'

"_Youkai-sama_, what is your name?" Kagome sleepy voice drifted across the cave.

He briefly considered ignoring her, figuring she would just go to sleep, but something prompted him to answer anyway. "Hiei."

"Goodnight, Hiei-sama," Kagome whispered.

Just as she was about to enter the land of dreams, Kagome's mind finally made the connection she had been looking for all night. 'Fire and ice...' She bolted up. "You're the forbidden child!"

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The timeline may be changed a bit as well. I'm not sure if I want Hiei to know the Dragon of the Darkness Flame technique yet or not. Depends on where the story takes me. :) Thanks to anyone who had reviewed. All reviews are snuggled happily, and tend to give me motivation, but don't feel obligated to review. I am certainly guilty of reading way more than I review.


	4. Past and Present

Just so you know, I thought about writing an entire chapter about what was happening to Inuyasha and nothing about the Hiei/Kag situation. Luckily for you, I'm not quite evil enough to do it. Well, actually I am, I'm just rather unsure of where I'm going with Inuyasha's part of the story. :)

Note: Most of Hiei's background is true, to the best of my knowledge, but I am going to slightly alter it to fit into this story.

**Huge thanks to all of you who have taken the time to review, you are awesome!**

If I owned Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho I certainly would not be writing mediocre fan fiction about them...

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Kagome had learned about many of the demons of this era, both because her grandfather talked too much and because Kaede always told her stories as she helped around the village. While Kagome had let most of the stories flow in one ear and out the other, the story of the forbidden child had captured her attention. Not only was the story tragic, but there was also the tiniest possibility that the child had played an important role in creating Naraku. Also, the forbidden child supposedly grew into an exceptionally powerful _youkai_ and was renowned for killing anyone and anything to gain more power.

The story of his childhood was extremely sad. His mother was an ice maiden who fell in love with a fire demon. The union was illegal and the resulting child was banned from the ice kingdom when he was still an infant. The infant was found by a band of _youkai_ and human thieves. They raised the child, although they often starved and beat him for their own amusement. The child endured the beatings because the thieves were the only family he knew and he was not ready to embark on his own.

However, at the age of ten, the child is said to have suffered a horrible beating by the leader of the thieves. As the leader was about to leave the child for dead, he made one last comment that supposedly cost him his life. He told the forbidden child that since he was so weak, it must mean his entire family was weak. He was going to find the child's mother and sister and make them his slaves, until he tired of them and killed them. Needless to say, this pushed the already beaten and broken child over the edge. It is said that everything within a mile of the thieves' camp was burned to the ground as the child lost control of his _youkai_ powers.

After that, little was heard about the forbidden child. A few years later though, people began to notice powerful _youkai_ were being killed off. The only clue about their mysterious deaths was the fact that near almost every murder a _youkai_ dressed in black was spotted. Rumors began to spread that the forbidden child had returned to wreak havoc on a world that did not want him. The rumors kept growing until he had slaughtered entire villages, both _youkai_ and human. Nobody knew which rumors were true, since it was said that no one who encountered the demon lived to tell the tale.

While the story itself was tragic, it probably would not have stuck in Kagome's mind if it weren't for a single fact: Onigumo appeared in the cave near Inuyasha's village shortly after the thieves camp was said to have burned to the ground. Onigumo, his body covered in burns, lusted for Kikyo. That lust drove him to give his body over to thousands of _youkai_, thus creating the abomination known as Naraku. Although it was not proven and it was certainly a stretch, Kagome knew in her heart that Onigumo was the leader of the thieves that had beaten Hiei to within an inch of his life.

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Hiei tensed, his hand instinctively moving toward the hilt of his katana. Mikos had been trying to kill him for years and he wasn't about to sit around and let this weak little girl do him in. He was up and moving faster than the eye could follow. The light from the fire glinted off the deadly blade of his katana as it moved in a precise arc towards the slender column of the miko's neck.

However, at that exact moment, whether it was luck or intuition, the miko looked up at him. He felt his arm still, as if it had a will of its own, the blade of his sword barely scraping against the delicate skin that covered her jugular. He noticed that once again he had failed to break her barrier and that much like before, it had merely moved closer to her body. He would ponder that later, because what he really wanted to know was, why was she crying?

"Miko," his voice sounded harsh even to his own ears, "why are you crying? Surely you are not stupid enough to think that a few tears will force me to spare your worthless life? Haven't you heard the stories about me?" A little voice in Hiei's head taunted 'They just did save her life, though, did they not?'

In a move that rather surprised them both, Kagome stood up, totally forgetting about the sword at her throat. Hiei watched as a small stream blood began to trickle from the light wound. Her standing up immediately put him on the defensive and just as he was about to take a step back to allow him to center his balance, he felt her drop her barrier and move toward him and wrap her arms around his back. He immediately stiffened. "Miko..." it wasn't a warning so much as it was a death threat.

"I'm sorry for crying, Hiei-sama, it's just that your story tears at my heart. I am also sorry for touching you without your permission, but I felt that you truly needed a hug for being able to survive in such a harsh world. I will only ask you one thing, please make my death as painless as possible."

"Miko you have no right to ask anything of me. Especially not a quick death. I will kill you when and how I see fit, regardless of what you desire." Even as the words left his mouth, Hiei knew that they were not entirely true. As he looked at the miko whose soft brown eyes were glowing in the light from the fire, even though her head was bowed, waiting for her death, he knew one thing: he would never be able to kill her. She was the first person to ever hug him or show him any compassion and that had touched something so deep inside his soul that he was unable to even identify it. However, he knew that whatever that piece was, it would prevent her death by his hand. Hiei growled viciously. He had worked his entire life to prevent weakness, and now here he was--a single human girl had effectively brought him to his knees.

Her soft voice brought him out of his dark thoughts. "Hiei-sama, I know your past must be painful to talk about, but I need to know a simple fact, it could be an important part of my current quest. Will you please allow me to ask you a single question about your past?"

Hiei knew he was weak for even considering the question. He should just kill her for her insolence. On the other hand, he also was curious about her so-called quest, and decided this could work in his favor.

"Very well miko, but in return you must answer two questions of my choice before you may ask me your question. Deal?" Hiei inwardly smirked. She had merely asked if she could _ask_ him a question and he had agreed, but he was not bound to actually answer her question.

Kagome was slightly worried. She had a pretty good idea what questions he wanted answers to, and she was not sure that it would be in her best interest to tell him she was hunting a jewel that could increase a _youkai's_ power. Against her better judgment, she nodded her head. "Agreed."

"What is this so-called quest that you are on?"

"I am looking for shards of a jewel that I broke." Kagome tried to be as vague as possible while still answering the question.

Hiei debated his next question. He could ask her more about the jewel, but he remembered she had come to the mountain with a friend. If her friend was as weak as she was, it wouldn't be a problem, but Hiei never liked unexpected threats.

"Who is the friend you mentioned, that came to the mountain with you?"

"Inuyasha." At Hiei's death glare she elaborated, "He's an _inu-hanyou_ and kind of my protector. We look for the shards of the jewel together. Now it's my turn. As promised, I just want to know one thing: what was the name of the leader of the band of thieves that raised you?"

Hiei had not been planning to answer her question. However as soon as he heard it, his eyes flashed red and he snarled, "Onigumo."

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The next update may not be until next week, since I am going home for Thanksgiving. Please review if you feel the urge, otherwise don't worry about it.


	5. Meet and Greet

Ok, so I didn't get anything written while I was at home, so this update is shorter than I would have liked. At least I finally figured out where Inuyasha and Shinbuu are going to fit in. They took a smaller role than I initially envisioned, but hey, I go where the story takes me.

**Thanks to everyone who took the time to review!**

I still don't own InuYasha or Yu Yu Hakusho, but if _you_ own them and are looking to give them away, I'm available. :)

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It was the perfect plan really. Make the bastard bleed and therefore more visible. Use the new visibility to make him bleed more. Rinse, repeat. Inuyasha thought that the plan was flawless—three hours ago. Now, he wasn't so sure. Three hours is a _long_ time to be fighting in a snowstorm, especially with Kagome missing in action. He was tired, his arms felt like they were on fire, and he _still_ had not managed to inflict a major wound on Shinbuu. In fact, if he didn't know better, he'd say the bastard was toying with him. The ground was covered in blood, most of it Inuyasha's. If it wasn't for the frigid temperature, even his _youkai_ healing would not have been able to keep up with the blood loss.

Just as Inuyasha was about to drop his sword and launch himself at Shinbuu, he felt an enormous _youki_ coming from directly beneath his feet. "Oh shit! Kagome! I really hope you're not the one pissing that _youkai_ off..." he muttered under his breath. 'Speaking of _youkai_ where'd that sneaky bastard Shinbuu go now?'

"So sorry _hanyou_, but we'll have to play later. There are much bigger fish that need my attention. Do _try_ to stay alive until I can come back and finish you, alright?" with that Shinbuu stepped off the cliff. Inuyasha spun around just in time to see his spiky white hair disappearing over the edge. "Play?!? PLAY!?! Just who the hell does he think he is? I'll show him who's been playing!" Inuyasha dove off the cliff after the snow demon.

--

Kagome cringed at Hiei's flashing crimson eyes. 'Ok, maybe asking him about his past wasn't the smartest idea in the world. In fact, I'd wager that it was one of my stupider mistakes, considering I'm pretty much trapped in this cave unless I want to freefall the rest of the way down the mountain.' Kagome had thought that Hiei was powerful before, but now that he was teetering on the edge of a full-on demon rage, his _youki_ was staggering. The temperature of the cave was steadily climbing and by the time it reached around ninety degrees, Kagome finally snapped out of her shock.

Kagome was torn. While every instinct in her body was screaming, _loudly_, for her to run as fast as possible, one small voice was whispering that she was the reason Hiei was in so much pain to begin with. If she hadn't been prying into his past, she wouldn't need to run away. So she sat there, undecided whether she should leave or try to comfort him, as the temperature climbed past a hundred degrees. The _youki_ in the small cave was suffocating her, but she was too weak to cast a barrier against it. Falling off the cliff and then healing Hiei had left her dangerously drained and so her miko could only writhe in agony as the _youki_ in the cave became thicker and thicker.

"Hiei, please stop, you are hurting me," she barely whispered. It was her last ditch effort before she would try to drag herself out of the cave. She was weak, but she had a strong sense of self-preservation and she knew that she would make it out alive. She didn't have much of a plan after that, but at least she would still be breathing.

--

Hiei heard the miko's whisper, but he was having a difficult time suppressing the memories from his childhood. It didn't help that he was furious for loosing control in the first place. Hiei prided himself on his iron-clad control, but all it took was one weak little human miko asking a single question about his past to make his control crumble into dust.

Just as Hiei was about to succeed in suppressing his memories, reign in his temper and regain his icy façade, another _youkai_ appeared in the cave behind Kagome. Any _youkai_ that dared to enter his cave was fair game for a slow and painful death, but this one was really asking for it. He was currently holding the miko up by her neck, which slightly irritated Hiei, but mostly he was furious because he was being ignored.

Shinbuu looked at the woman dangling from his hand. "Hello, miko. I certainly did not expect to see you alive. I guess you have proven yourself worthy after all. Once I kill this menace and your little _hanyou_ friend, I think I'll keep you as my pet--at least until I tire of you. I'm sure your screams will be even lovelier than the rest of you." As he was talking, Shinbuu had been bringing Kagome closer and closer to his face, until at last he kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth. Kagome, who was too drained to even zap him, viciously bit down on his tongue, hoping to bite it completely off. However, Shinbuu merely dropped her and laughed, "Ah yes, a fiery one. I shall enjoy breaking you, my dear."

Shinbuu's words and actions pushed Hiei over the edge. His eyes went totally crimson and his Jagan burned through the headband covering it. His only thoughts were to kill the person who reminded him of someone from long ago. Shinbuu finally realized that maybe he should be paying more attention to the dangerous, powerful, and extremely angry _youkai_ in the cave. However, even as the realization hit, he could feel the steel of Hiei's katana slicing through his body. Hiei managed to cut him twenty-three times before his body collapsed in a pile of goo. Even then, it was not enough. The demonic rage Hiei had repressed for so long refused to give up so easily. Shinbuu's remains began to smolder and eventually combusted into roaring flames, leaving a single shiny black shard behind. As Hiei bent down to pick it up, a dainty hand closed around the shard, which became blindingly pink at her touch.

Hiei growled ferociously at the woman that dared to take what was rightfully his, but she merely clutched the shard to her chest as if it was her most precious possession. Hiei felt the presence of another _youkai_ outside his cave and he grinned sadistically. He could already smell the _hanyou's_ blood and it made him even more eager for the battle to come. When he went to take a step forward, though, he found he was hindered by the same woman from before. She had wrapped her arms around his waist and she was crying and pleading with him to not kill her friend. He raised his sword to merely cut her down, but as she flinched, he hesitated. He wasn't sure why, but some instinct was telling him that he should not kill this particular human, nuisance though she was.

As Hiei looked down on her crying face, he realized he knew this woman. She had cried for him before, hugged him, and even wielded her depleted miko power to heal him of wounds he gave himself while he was trying to strangle her. With that realization his sanity returned. His control finally locked away his demonic rage and his eyes returned to their normal ruby red. He noticed the white haired _hanyou_ storming into the cave, only to be dropped to the ground by a loud "SIT!" from the girl still attached to his waist. He smirked at the unfortunate _hanyou_

"What the hell was that for, bitch!? I come to save you from a _youkai_ and you sit me for it? See if I ever save your weak ass again! What you are doing all wrapped up with him anyway? I'm off fighting for a jewel shard and you're in here with your lover!?!" Inuyasha continued ranting, although it was somewhat muffled since Kagome had sat him again. She knew that his rough talk was merely how he expressed his concern for her, but damn if it still didn't get on her nerves sometimes.

"Inuyasha, this is Hiei. Hiei, this is the friend I was telling you about, Inuyasha. Please, please, _please_ do not kill each other before I wake up." She turned pleading eyes up towards Hiei before promptly passing out.

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Review if you feel like it or want to give me extra motivation. :)


	6. Deception

Ok, I think something weird is up with Mediaminer, since my story is now centered. Believe me; I didn't make it that way on purpose.

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! Reviewers are the greatest people in the world!**

By now it should be completely obvious that I do, in fact, own both InuYasha and Yu Yu Hakusho. (If you believed that then you have not been paying enough attention to these random notes.)

"talking"

'thinking'

telepathic

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Hiei looked down at the girl still clinging to his waist, then over to her _hanyou_ "friend" in his body shaped crater. He wondered at the best way to rile the _hanyou_ into attacking him. After all, he was still feeling tense and nothing alleviated stress like a good ass kicking. As long as he was the one doing the kicking, of course. Hiei could hear the _hanyou_ growling at him and figured from his earlier comments that he was protective of the miko still wrapped around his waist. How could he best use that to his own advantage?

From the look of the _hanyou_ it would not take much to set him off, and if he attacked first then Hiei would merely be defending himself. 'Not that I care what the miko thinks.' Hiei snorted. 'I should kill this _hanyou_ just to prove to her that she has no hold over me and does not deserve the privilege of asking anything of me.' Even as the thought bounced around his head, the vision of her tear-filled, pleading eyes popped into his brain. 'Damn it all to hell. Well, she did manage to bring me back from my temporary loss of control, so I guess I can grant her this one, final wish. However, she merely said not to _kill_ him. All of the fun is well before the killing stage anyway. Or...' Hiei's smile became positively evil. 'Yes, this should definitely be more fun than merely killing him. He looks half dead already and even if he wasn't he still would not be a worthy opponent for me.'

Hiei's original plan had been to kick the miko to the floor, therefore causing the _hanyou_ to attack. His new plan was much more devious. The _hanyou_ would never know it, but his own words had inspired Hiei's new plan. 'Her lover, hn? If that's what you think, who am I to change your mind?' Hiei schooled his face into what he hoped would pass for loving concern, which was rather difficult since he had no idea what "loving concern" looked like and his sinister smirk just kept trying to break through. When he finally felt that he had it right, he slowly bent down and picked the miko up, cradling her against his chest and tucking her head under his chin. He nearly fell over from shock when she snuggled against him and sighed contentedly. 'Stupid human, don't you know an extremely dangerous _youkai_ is holding you? This had better be worth it or I'm dropping you off the first cliff I find, which happens to be exceedingly close.'

Hiei wasn't disappointed. Apparently the _hanyou_ had also heard Kagome sigh and did not like it one bit. In fact, it looked like he was beyond pissed. "Hiei, is it?" Inuyasha sneered. "Put Kagome down right now and I might be generous and let you live. Or maybe I'll kill you anyway, just for touching her with your filthy hands." Inuyasha knew he wouldn't be able to use his sword while the other _youkai_ was holding Kagome, but nothing was stopping him from using his claws. He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Even if he had lost a lot of blood, he was not going to let that stop him from taking this _youkai_ down. He wasn't giving Kagome to that mangy wolf Kouga and he _certainly_ was not letting some stranger hold her so intimately. She could do better than a _youkai_ for a mate and he was going to make sure she got what she deserved. During the last three years he had taken on the position of father, brother, and protector for Kagome, all rolled in to one. He definitely was not going to let some _youkai_ cart her off, no matter how peaceful she looked lying there. 'Over my dead body.'

That can be arranged, _hanyou_. Hiei might not be able to read the miko's mind, even in her weakened state, but the _hanyou_ was like an open book. In fact, with the Jagan still agitated from his earlier demon rage, the _hanyou_ was practically _thinking_ loudly enough to be heard without effort. Unsurprisingly, most of the _hanyou's_ strongest memories centered on the girl Hiei held in his arms. The girl certainly did know how to get into trouble. Her kind and trusting nature had been the cause of most of her problems. The miko just refused to believe people, and _youkai_, were evil beings, even though she was proven wrong time after time.

Most of the _hanyou's_ early memories of Kagome were of rescuing her from the trouble she had managed to find. The more recent memories, though, involved him merely finding the miko after she had blasted whatever had carried her off. Hiei could sense Inuyasha's turmoil over Kagome's growing strength. He was happy that she could take care of herself, but at the same time he was worried that if she no longer needed him as a protector that she would leave. While Inuyasha's heart knew that Kagome would not leave him, his mind was doubtful. Hiei knew that he could use this fact to his advantage.

"Get out of my head, you sick bastard! Stop hiding behind a woman! What are you, a coward?" Inuyasha knew he hit a nerve when Hiei turned flashing eyes his direction.

"Do you have a bad memory or are you just stupid? Kagome," Hiei just managed to not grimace in distaste at lowering himself to call a human, a miko no less, by her name, "requested that we not fight. I, for one, will honor her wishes. Since she is passed out, it is my duty to protect her until she wakes up." Hiei glanced over at the _hanyou_ and was pleased to see the pink tinge slipping into his eyes. 'What are you going to do now, _hanyou_?'

Inuyasha seriously considered just killing the _youkai_ on the spot. The only thing holding him back was the fact that Kagome was still in the _youkai's_ arms. Even as angry as he was, he did not want to risk injuring Kagome. He needed to leave before he did something he would regret, especially when Kagome woke up and sat him straight to Hell. "Well, then, since you are _so_ concerned about Kagome's welfare, I'm sure that you will agree that we should head back down the mountain as soon as possible. Like now," Inuyasha ground out. "I'm sure you don't want to leave your beloved cave, so if you'll just hand over Kagome we'll be on our way."

Hiei smirked. "That's what you think, _hanyou_. I refuse to leave Kagome in your care, seeing as how you have already failed to protect her. I will see that she is safely escorted back to the rest of your group." Hiei would not admit it, but he was extremely curious how Onigumo was in any way connected with the miko's current quest. Plus, he knew if he just pushed the _hanyou_ a bit more he would have a very stress-relieving fight on his hands.

Inuyasha was seething. His plan had backfired and now, not only was the _youkai_ going with them, still holding Kagome, he had also just insulted his honor. Oh yeah, someone was going to pay. Instead he squashed his homicidal urge, shouldered Kagome's pack, and headed out of the cave before he did something he probably would not regret later--at least not until Kagome woke up.

Hiei raised an eyebrow at the _hanyou's_ lackluster response. He expected a swipe of the claws at the very least. 'He has more control than I thought. This should prove very entertaining.' Hiei picked up his cloak and draped it around the girl in his arms. 'Just to piss the _hanyou_ off, of course.' Nothing else in the cave had any value so he followed the _hanyou_ out into the blizzard.


	7. Return to Camp

Life and work have been getting in the way of writing lately, plus my muse has been on vacation. I don't really plan any of the story ahead of time, so when my muse leaves, I'm rather stuck. She seems to be back, and nicely tanned too, I might add, so hopefully I'll get back to updating more often.

The explanation of _youki_ in this chapter is mostly an invention of my imagination. If you don't like it, well, too bad for you. :)

Easy Japanese to English:  
_youkai - A demon  
youki - A demon's power/energy_  
It gets kind of confusing, so if you are not used to the Japanese wording, make sure to pay attention to which one is being used.

Still don't own Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho--I just borrow them from time to time.

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Inuyasha was extremely glad that they were traveling downhill. Not only was the traveling easier, he had also been this way before and knew basically where he was going. He may have been bleeding and fatigued, but he'd be damned if he let that bastard carrying Kagome know that he was moving on pride alone. Just a glimpse of Kagome's curled up in the _youkai's_ arms was enough to keep him going for several more miles. After all, the sooner they made it back to camp, the sooner the little bastard would take his leave.

When they had left the cave it had been late afternoon, at least as far as Inuyasha could tell through the blinding snow. Now, full night had fallen, and with it the blizzard had finally subsided. However, as if Mother Nature were mocking them, the clouds began to break up, leaving a clear view of the night sky. Generally Inuyasha enjoyed walking by starlight, but tonight it meant that the temperature was plummeting. Without the insulating effects of the clouds, what little heat that could be found on this mountain was now radiating off into space.

Wading through snow that was sometimes up to his waist, Inuyasha, for the first time in his long life, wished that he was wearing some of those stupid human contraptions know as shoes. He could not feel his feet at all and it was only his _youkai_ balance that was keeping him from making a fool of himself. He had to lock his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering and he began to wonder if Kagome would make it through the cold unscathed. While he at least had some _youkai_ blood warming his body and partially shielding him from the cold, she was totally vulnerable. The temperature kept dropping and it was already well below when they first headed up the mountain. If she had been freezing then, now she would be an icicle.

Inuyasha looked over to check on her and almost fell on his face as he did a double take. Not only was she still in the _youkai's_ arms, which pulled an involuntary growl from his throat, she was totally free of the snow and ice that was caked on Inuyasha's own form. Her lips weren't blue and her teeth weren't chattering. Something very strange was happening.

Although Inuyasha did not always act like it, he was a fairly smart guy. If he had been as stupid as he acted, he certainly would not still be around to talk about it, not as a hated _hanyou_. He had learned at a young age that quick wits, cleverness, and intelligence would get him much further than his weak little claws. Over the years he had grown more powerful, but he had not forgotten the hard-learned lessons of his childhood. So therefore, when he saw that Kagome was warm and happy, with a content little smile gracing her face, his mind immediately began mulling over the possibilities.

Inuyasha took a closer look at the demon holding Kagome. He certainly wasn't much to look at, all dressed in black, but Inuyasha noticed that he too was free from snow and ice. Even as a _hanyou_, Inuyasha was aware of _youki_ coming from other demons. He could feel Hiei's _youki_ swirling around him, but he had brushed it off as a warning to others. Now he was reconsidering. 'I wonder, what type of demon is he, exactly?'

All demons have a certain "base" amount of _youki_. The amount can fluctuate depending on the health and emotional state of the _youkai_. If a demon is fatigued, then their _youki_ will be diminished. If they are extremely angry or in combat, then their available _youki_ will increase dramatically. However, if their _youki_ increases too much or without control, then the demon will be forced to transform into his/her true form. _Youkai_ can also change into their true form at will, assuming they have a sufficient amount of _youki_ to accomplish the transformation.

Different types of demons use _youki_ in different ways. It can be used as an attack, as is the case with Sesshoumaru's whip and Inuyasha's _Sankou Tessou_. It can also be used as transportation, shielding, and in certain cases to alter the immediate environment, such as temperature, weather, or wind. _Youki_ can also be used to warn other demons in the area to steer clear. Strong demons tend to leave their _youki_ unleashed all the time to warn lesser demons to stay away, unless they wanted a slow arduous death. Lesser demons generally do not leave their _youki_ unleashed for two reasons: it allows more powerful demons to find them easily and it tends to drain their power too quickly to be useful.

Inuyasha knew that the demon walking a short distance away was extremely powerful. He may not have looked like much, but his body housed and incredible amount of _youki_. 'Not that I couldn't kick his ass anyway.' He had just assumed that because Hiei had so much _youki_ that he left it unleashed to ward off other demons. Looking more closely, however, Inuyasha saw something that explained the lack of snow on his traveling partner. Not only was his _youki_ swirling around him, heat waves were radiating off above his head. 'Heat waves, huh? I guess that narrows down his type to something that can control temperature.'

Not that Inuyasha would ever, ever admit it out loud, but he was secretly, deep in his heart, glad that Kagome was carried by the _youkai_ if it meant she would not have to suffer the biting cold all the way back to camp. Inuyasha, in a rare display of both control and intelligence, refrained from making any rude comments to the _youkai_ about his inability to handle the cold without the help of his _youki_. 'Kagome, you had better appreciate this...'

Now that he knew that Hiei could control the temperature, it was a tiny mental leap to peg him as a fire demon, since that was the first demon that popped into Inuyasha's head when he thought of a _youkai_ radiating heat. When he remembered what he had seen in the cave, it seemed to fit. He knew that Shinbuu had entered the cave slightly before he had, but by the time he had ran in, the only thing left was a bloody floor and a pile of ashes. The ashes certainly could have been the remains of Shinbuu and the cave itself was extremely warm, most likely since the demon had been in a fit of rage when he first saw him.

With that bit of knowledge, Inuyasha was confident in his assessment that Hiei was indeed a fire demon. Inuyasha figured they would eventually have to fight, it was practically inevitable, and he was extra glad that his fire rat clothes were almost impervious to heat and flame. 'Makes fighting a fire demon a bit easier, at least, since he won't be able to just fry me, he may actually have to fight for once. After I get him away from Kagome, I'll show him how a real fight works,' Inuyasha thought smugly.

--

Hiei was somewhat surprised that the _hanyou_ was still standing, what more actually walking down the mountain. A tiny, minute, almost imperceptible amount of respect for the _hanyou_ worked its way into Hiei's system. Hiei had been expecting him to just fall over for the past five hours. He had figured that when the _hanyou_ had been looking intently at him five hours ago that he was swallowing his pride to ask to make camp for the night. However, the fact that the question was never asked made Hiei wonder what exactly had been going through the _hanyou's_ mind. 'It's too late now,' Hiei thought. He may have been able to read minds, but picking a certain thought out of the past was nearly impossible, unless it was an exceptionally memorable moment for the person involved. Humans were especially difficult to read, with their chaotic thoughts and feelings.

He had been trying, unsuccessfully, for the last five hours to break into the mind of the miko currently sleeping peacefully in his arms. On more than one occasion, when he tried to merely force his way through her mental barriers, he had gotten a rather nasty mental shock from her returning powers. It wasn't enough to hurt him, just startle him, but he wondered if the same would be true when she had regained her full strength.

It was strange, really. It seemed as if her barriers were sentient beings. They would reinforce wherever he was attacking and would immediately block any holes or weak spots. Hiei wondered, in awe, if the miko was even aware of what she had created. Perhaps she was still controlling the barriers while passed out? The possibilities were endless and Hiei was determined to force the answer out of her. He hated not being able to solve a puzzle.

Hiei looked up surprised, as a beam of sunlight struck his eyes. 'Dawn already?' They had been walking for nearly fourteen hours straight. Hiei noticed the _hanyou_ was now staggering more than he was walking, but he was still on his feet and moving forward. Hiei's respect for the _hanyou_ rose another notch, not that he would ever admit it. He watched as the _hanyou's _ears perked up and he sniffed the air. A look of relief spread across his face. Hiei cursed himself for not paying more attention, because now he could see what appeared to be a camp just a few hundred yards further down the mountain. 'I take it that is our destination. Finally, I can wake the girl, kill the _hanyou_, and be on my way.'

In a show of energy the _hanyou_ bounded the rest of the way down the mountain into the camp. Hiei decided to follow at a more sedate pace. When he finally arrived, he saw that two humans and a fire cat had joined the _hanyou_. One of the humans, the male, appeared to be a monk of some sort and female was dressed in the traditional garb of the demon slayers. Hiei had learned not to underestimate his opponents, but this group really would pose no challenge to him if he decided to kill them all. The monk did have a strange aura around him and the exterminator had what was obviously a _youkai_ bone boomerang, but they still were not a threat. The _hanyou_ looked half dead already, so Hiei was beginning to wonder if it was even worth the small amount of effort that would be required to kill him.

As soon as he stepped into the camp the exterminator rushed towards him. Just as he was about to drop into a defensive position he realized that she was calling out to the miko. She kept shooting him wary glances, but most of her attention was on the woman in his arms.

"Kagome? Kagome can you hear me? It's time to wake up, please wake up." Sango kept trying to wake Kagome, while keeping an eye on the demon currently holding her friend. Inuyasha had told them what had happened the last few days and that Kagome had asked him and the demon, Hiei, to not kill each other until she awoke. Both she and Miroku had agreed not to attack the demon, especially since he was carrying Kagome. However, if the demon made one ill move toward Kagome then Sango would have no problem with killing him as painfully as possible. Sango schooled her face into what she hoped was a neutrally friendly look. "Hiei-san, we have put out Kagome's sleeping bag. I'm sure she would be more comfortable if you put her in it."

Hiei found, to his annoyance, that he was strangely reluctant to part with the girl in his arms. He thrust the miko into the arms of the woman before him and raced away from the camp, down the mountain. "Well that was weird," Sango mused, using one of Kagome's terms. She took Kagome over and tucked her into the sleeping bag near the fire. She was surprised that Kagome's body was warm and dry. Even though the temperature here was much warmer than what she expected the mountain summit to be, it was still cold enough to require extra clothing. The fact that Kagome's exposed hands and face were warm was something to ponder on later. Now she had to check on Inuyasha. He had looked half dead when he walked into camp earlier and she had feared the worst when she saw that Kagome was not with him.

"Inuyasha, you should take a break, it looks like the other _youkai_ is gone so Miroku and I can handle things until Kagome wakes up."

"Keh. I don't need a break, I'm perfectly fine..." Inuyasha started to wobble on his feet, belying his words. Before Sango could even force the issue Inuyasha fell over backwards, exhausted to the point of passing out. "Well at least he landed half on a sleeping bag, not that I think he'll notice." Sango took the other half of the bag and wrapped it around his feet, which were thankfully towards the fire. She knew his _youkai_ blood would keep him from getting frostbite, but his feet still looked like blocks of ice. She looked over at Miroku, "Now I guess we wait for one of them to wake up."

Miroku shot her a lecherous smile, "My dear Sango, I know how we can pass the time _and_ keep warm..." he winked at her.

"Stupid _hentai_!" but the words did not have any real heat behind them and a smile was threatening to break through her mock angry look.

--

Hiei had never been one to run from confrontation, so why had he bolted out of the camp like a coward? At the time he had been angry for letting the girl get to him, but instead of staying and merely killing the whole lot of them, he had ran away. Perhaps he was angry at the pure concern for the miko that he saw in the exterminator's eyes. After all, he had never been looked at with anything but hate and fear. Mostly, deep in his heart, he was afraid the miko would wake up, realize he had stolen the shard, and attack. He was not afraid of the miko per se, he was unwilling to test his theory that he could not kill her, since it would be a major weakness on his part and he prided himself on not having any weaknesses.

Hiei looked at the little shard in his hand. It was broadcasting a large amount of power for such a tiny little sliver. He had managed to pry the shard from the miko while he was carrying her. When the shard was in her grasp is had been a light pink color and glowed softly. Now the glow was gone and the shard was slowly loosing its pink color, turning into a deeper violet. Hiei had heard rumors that the Shikon no Tama had appeared again, only to be broken. It was said that even a single shard could grant enormous power to a _youkai_ or human.

He was confident that the shard in his hand was a shard of that famed jewel. Hiei wanted to become more powerful, but not by using such a cheap trick. He would keep the shard for now, it was bound to lure demons for him to fight, but he would not actually use it. Not until he knew more about it at least, and why the girl was searching for it. Plus he had yet to find out how Onigumo figured into the girl's quest. 'I guess I'll just have to find out for myself, I'm sure someone can be _persuaded_ into disclosing that disgusting human's location, then I can kill him slowly and painfully.'

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Review if you feel the urge, otherwise don't worry about it. Note, however, that reviews tend to make my muse a very happy girl. :)


	8. Awakenings

**Thanks to everyone who took time to review!**

I still don't own InuYasha or Yu Yu Hakusho, but I keep Hiei hidden under my bed. :)

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Kagome blushed deep scarlet as soon as she realized that she was awake. She had been having a rather enjoyable dream involving a certain pointy-haired Forbidden Child and she felt a wave of disappointment that it was only a dream. Of course that thought vaulted her into full consciousness and she immediately regretted her dream. 'He's a demon and a ruthless killer. It's for your own good to forget about him as soon as possible.' Kagome already knew the demon wasn't in camp, because she could not sense his unique aura. Her body was still hot and heavy and her mind wandered back to her dream... his lips on her throat, his hands caressing her creamy flesh, his eyes as he thrust... 'Woah, woah, woah, I thought we were forgetting about him?'

She looked around and immediately thanked her lucky stars when she saw Inuyasha lying a short distance away, apparently dead to the world. 'At least I don't have to deal with him and his superior senses. I'll never forget that last time something like this happened. I've never been so embarrassed or humiliated in my life.' It had been a couple years ago and Kagome had just woken up from a very, shall we say, _explicit_, dream involving none other than Inuyasha's evil brother Sesshoumaru. It had been just after he had rescued her from a crazy _youkai_ trying to marry her, so she figured it was a perfectly natural response. It seemed Inuyasha had other ideas, though.

As soon as she was awake Inuyasha had pounced. "What's wrong with you? You smell... spicy..." he had demanded in his usual blunt manner. She had immediately blushed bright red, sat him, and ran to find the nearest river to bathe. However he wouldn't drop the subject and she finally had to take him aside and explain to him that she had been having a very good dream, a dream involving a male. She was sure the blush was permanent at that point. Luckily for her, he didn't seem to care which male it was since he was blushing almost as much as her. "Oh. Well, keh! Stupid women and their stupid dreams! Why don't you just find a real man and be done with it?!" Oh yeah, he had gotten sat good for that one.

All the way back to Kaede's village, every time Kagome would let her mind wander into no-man's land, Inuyasha would look at her and raise his eyebrows. She was actually amazed that he had survived the trip without any permanent damage to his back. As soon as they returned Kagome rushed to talk to Kaede.

"Kaede, I need you to teach me how to mask scent. Can you do that?" Kagome had asked while trying to force down the blush threatening to stain her cheeks.

"Of course, child. It is a simple spell. Why do you want to learn now?" Kaede may have been old, but she was still extremely perceptive. She had seen the blush blooming on Kagome's cheeks and wanted to know the true reason behind the sudden request.

"Well, you see... um...," Kagome stuttered, her mind trying to come up with any excuse other than the actual one, "I.. uh... thought it would help me to better hide from _youkai,_" she had finally blurted. 'Score! That's a nice logical excuse, plus Inuyasha is half _youkai_, so I'm not even lying. No more embarrassing explanations for me!' Kagome was doing a little dance in her head, until she saw the skeptical look Kaede was currently giving her. 'I don't think she bought it.'

"Alright child, I will teach you the spell. To hide from _youkai_, of course." Kaede had managed to make it sound like her excuse was as plausible as seeing a pink elephant fly by outside, but had taught her the spell anyway. After that, Kagome got in the habit of casting the spell before she went to sleep at night. It became such a habit that she rarely thought about it anymore. She had even perfected the spell over the last couple years to not entirely mask her scent. Instead of no scent at all, she would still smell normal, just any _other_ scents would be masked. However, now she was absolutely sure that she had _not_ remembered to cast the spell before she passed out. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting Inuyasha still be sleeping!' she thought gratefully.

She quickly cast the spell and sat up, looking for her friends. She saw Sango and Miroku sitting suspiciously close to each other a short distance away. Judging by the light blush on Sango's face, she was actually enjoying the monk's nearness. 'Finally. It's about time the _houshi _stopped acting like such a pervert and showed Sango that he really cares about her.' Kagome could barely contain a squeal of excitement. She could hardly wait to get Sango alone for some serious girl talk. She almost hated to break them up, but she was dying to know how she had returned safely and why Inuyasha was currently passed out.

Kagome's inner devil decided to make its presence known. "I hope I'm not _interrupting_ anything between you two, but do you know how I came to be here?" Kagome giggled as Sango and Miroku started guiltily and moved away from each other, both of them lightly blushing.

"Ah, Kagome-sama, how nice of you to join us again," Miroku managed to keep his tone polite while shooting her a reproving glare. After all, it wasn't every day that he made progress with Sango.

She just grinned back and winked at him. "It seems like I haven't seen you guys in forever, what have you been up to while we were gone?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Kagome!" Sango gasped, "I can tell already that you've been spending too much time with the _hentai_ here and I'm sure Inuyasha was not a good influence either." Sango wasn't really angry at her friend, since she was rather used to her antics, but she played along anyway. "Since you're feeling so spirited, I'll make sure to add extra training today!"

Now it was Kagome's turn to look aghast. "NOOO!!!! Not more training! Anything but that!!" Most of her miko power had returned so she shot a mischievous grin towards Sango, put up her barrier and stuck her tongue out. "Ah ha! You'll never get me now! I'm free, free I tell you!"

"You'll have to come out sometime, and when you do..." Sango tried to look threatening between her giggles. Both girls finally gave up and collapsed in a fit of laughter. Miroku, who had witnessed many similar conversations, just chuckled at the girls currently wiping tears from their eyes and holding their stomachs. He was glad that Kagome could still make them laugh, even though their quest was grim. "So, Kagome, who was the _youkai_ that delivered you to camp? You certainly looked comfortable in his arms, all wrapped up in his cloak."

Now it was Kagome's turn to blush, especially when pieces of her dream returned. "Ah, heh, I guess you probably mean Hiei-san. Was he dressed in black with pointy hair?" At their affirmative nods she continued, "Yeah, I kinda fell off of a cliff into his cave while Inuyasha was fighting." She debated whether to tell them that he was the Forbidden Child but decided against it. After all, it would probably only make them jump to conclusions that may or may not still be true. 'He didn't kill me or Inuyasha apparently, so he can't be as bad as they say, can he?' Even as the thought crossed her mind, the stray thought that had been bugging her since she woke up finally materialized. 'The shard! Where is it?' Kagome looked in her hands but didn't see it, she also did not feel it anywhere in the camp. 'That sneaky little bastard! I trusted him and he stole the shard! Ohhh... the next time I see him...'

"Kagome-sama, is something wrong? Are you looking for something?" Miroku asked, concerned.

"No, everything is fine, I guess I just kind of spaced out there for a minute. Sorry about that." By now Sango and Miroku were well acquainted with the strange phrases Kagome used and had even started using some of them, so "spaced out" made perfect sense to them.

"About the _youkai_ that carried me back, do you know where he is now?" Kagome asked with what she hoped was casual curiosity.

"It was kind of strange, he just dumped you into my arms and left. He's pretty quick too, I didn't even see which direction he went." Sango answered. Sango saw the brief look of disappoint and hurt that flashed in Kagome's eyes but decided to wait and question her friend about it when they were alone. "After he left, Inuyasha just passed out. I guess they had been walking all night and Inuyasha looked he was in bad shape to begin with. What happened, did you find the shard?"

Kagome threw Sango an exasperated glance. 'You just had to ask the one question I wanted to avoid, didn't you Sango?' She mentally sighed. "No, not exactly." A warning glare was sent in Sango's direction just as she was about to ask what "not exactly" meant. Sango, being the smart girl that she is, immediately caught on and figured that this was another topic for girl talk. Unfortunately, they were still on a mountain, with no rivers or hot springs around for a nice relaxing bath and chat, so they would either have to wait or sneak off later.

--

The _youkai_ never knew what hit him. One second he was looking for a tasty meal, the next he was dangling from a tree branch--by his own hair. He looked at his captor who was currently examining the glistening blade of his katana in a thinly veiled threat. "Tell me where I can find the human known as Onigumo," Hiei demanded. The _youkai_ froze in shock, all of this for a human's location? Was this guy insane? His answer came in the sharp sting of his captor's katana slicing through his left arm. Oh yeah, the guy was definitely crazy. "You are boring me, answer my question and I _might_ grant you a quick death. Continue to be silent and suffer an excruciating torture." Personally Hiei was hoping the _youkai_ chose torture. He was still rather tense from his earlier ordeal and could use the stress relief. Even if this was the fourth _youkai_ he had "questioned."

The _youkai's_ mind stirred into frantic action. 'Onigumo, Onigumo... where have I heard that name? Please, please, where is it?' Finally he remembered a vague rumor he had heard. "I heard that there was once a human known as Onigumo who lived around fifty years ago. It is said that his body was badly burned, so he gave his soul over to all of the _youkai_ in the area, creating a conglomeration of different _youkai_ and his human blood. He was supposedly after the Shikon no Tama and the priestess that was guarding it. It is said that the priestess died and took the Shikon with her, but the conglomeration _hanyou_ lived."

Finally Hiei was getting some answers. "Where can I find the _hanyou_ Onigumo now?" he demanded.

"He is no longer known as Onigumo. With his new body, he took a new name. He is now called Naraku and no one knows where to find him. The rumors are that he will find you and when he does you will wish he hadn't..." the _youkai_ tapered off as his captor looked thoughtful. 'Maybe he'll forget about me and just be on his way... I can live without an arm.'

As if reading his mind, his captor looked up at him. "You have been somewhat useful. Therefore, I will let you live. However, in return you must spread the word that the Forbidden Child is out to hunt down and kill this Naraku. Do you agree?" The _youkai_ couldn't nod fast enough, he would say anything if it meant he would live another day. "Good. Start spreading the word," with that Hiei turned and disappeared back into the forest. 'Very interesting. Naraku, you lowlife bastard, you are mine.'

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Review if you feel the burning desire to do so, otherwise don't worry about it. Reviews do feed my muse though, and keep her happy and creative. :)


	9. Of Mikos and Demons

It seems that I am at a crossroads in the fiction that neither I nor my muse knows how to handle. Each path is fraught with peril and unseen hazards, yet each beckons me like a Siren's song. Why must I choose? Will this be the end of my meandering; must I take up a pen and create a definite path for the future? Or should I shy away from both paths and look for the tiny trail leading into the unknown? Only time will tell...

For answers to common reviewer questions, please see the bottom of the page. :)

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed!! **

I _still_ don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. Or a pink hippo. Or a flying car. Or a winning Powerball ticket. Damn, that last one gets to me.

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Kagome had never been so glad to see flat land in her entire life. Normally she would glance at the shining emerald forest stretching in front of her and only see how vast it was, how many days it would take to travel to the other side. Now, as she gazed out at the nearly flat land, she was elated.

'I don't care how far I have to walk as long as I never see a mountain, or even a big hill for that matter, for a long, _long_ time. I think I would walk across Japan before I would climb a mountain again. I am sore in places I didn't even know I had muscles. I swear coming down was just as bad as going up and I think my butt is bruised from the number of times I managed to fall on it. And, to top it off, we didn't even get the shard. '

She was still rather peeved about that little fact. The next time she saw that sneaky little bastard she was going to kick his ass. She knew that she would be seeing him soon too, since she basically had a tracking beacon to his exact location. With only a few shards left, it was only a matter of time before Naraku made his move as well. 'I definitely need to get to him before Naraku does, especially since I didn't get to explain that Onigumo was transformed into Naraku.'

Kagome was tired, she was grouchy, and she was _this close_ to sitting Inuyasha straight to Hell. If she couldn't make it all the way to Hell, then she would be just as happy to send him on his own personal journey to the center of the earth.

This morning, what were the first words out of his mouth?

"Where's the jewel shard? You did get it, right?" he had demanded before he had hardly woken up. Even the vicious sit he received in return didn't dissuade him.

"What about your lover boy? Why'd he run off so fast? Why aren't you saying anything? Hey, are you listening to me? HEY!" Kagome, who had been not-so-patiently counting to the biggest number she could think of, was snapped out of her thoughts by the fuming _hanyou_ standing in front of her.

"Inuyasha?," she asked in her sweetest voice, a saccharine smile gracing her lips.

Oh yeah, he was screwed now. He knew that tone of voice and it never_, ever_ meant anything good for him. He may have been dense when it came to some things, but he had finally learned that that tone spelled trouble. "Keh, what do you want?"

He barely refrained from tacking his usual "bitch" onto the end of the sentence. He didn't mean it as an insult; the fact was that he used it much as one would use a term of endearment. Kagome had finally begun to understand that he didn't mean anything by it and had even given up correcting him. That didn't mean that he should needlessly provoke her now, though.

"Inuyasha," her tone was still sweet but it was quickly becoming louder and more threatening, "if you so much as _murmur_ another question, insult, word, or if you even _breathe_ too loudly, I am going to make your life a living hell. And I won't be using the rosary."

"Keh, like you could do anything to me without using these stupid beads." Inuyasha smiled smugly.

"Consider that your last sentence for the day," she raised her finger as he was about to interrupt, "unless, of course, you would like to smell like a demon in heat," she cut him off again, "a _female_ demon in heat. You do know that lust will drive demons so crazy that they don't spend much time checking on little details, like, say, the actual sex of the demon they are pursuing." Now it was her turn to smile smugly as Inuyasha paled considerably. Sure, he could fight them off, since most of the demons that gave into the lust-induced craze were fairly weak. But really, who would want to?

That had been eight hours ago and while Inuyasha had actually kept his mouth shut, for the most part, he had used every other tactic to bother her as much as possible. Plus he had kept up his slave-driver pace all day and even Sango, Miroku and Kirara were looking worn. Just as Kagome was sure that her sanity was going to take a permanent leave of absence, she spied what appeared to be steam rising in the distance. Suddenly the weariness melted away at the prospect of a long, hot bath.

"Sango-chan, do you see that or am I truly going crazy?" she pointed in the direction of the steam.

"A hot spring! I see it too and it looks like it is nearby. We should find a place to camp for the night, since it is already late in the day, and then we can take a bath!" Both girls squealed in excitement.

"We are not stopping here. There is still plenty of daylight left..." Inuyasha realized that no one was listening to him. In fact, they were almost done setting up the camp.

Miroku walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Inuyasha, women will not be separated from their baths for long, as you should know by now. I think that we could use a bath too, don't you agree? I'm sure the women will be more than happy to share..." Miroku trailed off with a far away look in his eyes.

Inuyasha's brought the monk back to the present with a fist on his head. "_Hentai_, I'm not going to let you spy on the women and I very much doubt that they will invite you to join them. Stop daydreaming and do something useful, like gathering wood." When he saw the monk's eyes light up, he realized that the girls were already heading for the hot spring. "On second thought _houshi_, you can stay right here where I can keep an eye on you."

--

"Ah, I never thought I would be warm again. This is pure heaven!" Kagome looked over at Sango who was just slipping into the water. "Don't you agree, Sango-chan?"

Sango just sighed in bliss. The girls sat soaking up the heat and letting their minds wander. This was, after all, their reward for putting up with Inuyasha and Miroku all day. Talking could wait until they had sufficiently unwound.

After about ten minutes of lazing around, Kagome cracked open one eye to look at her friend. "So, Sango-chan, you and Miroku looked awfully cozy this morning and he wasn't even groping you. Did something happen that you would like to share with me? After all, you were left alone together for almost three days..." Kagome trailed off suggestively.

Sango was glad the heat from the water had already flushed her face otherwise Kagome would undoubtedly see the blush currently spreading over her face. "Nothing happened. In fact, Miroku was a perfect gentleman, if you can believe it. He didn't grope me once the entire time you were gone. I..." Sango sighed, "I really enjoyed it. However, I'm sure it was just because I was the only female around." she finished bitterly.

For all they laughed and joked with each other, Kagome and Sango shared a true bond. Kagome knew that Sango was still hiding something, but she knew Sango would tell her when she was ready. Such was the nature of their relationship, they were always ready to listen and help, but they also knew when the other just needed some time to sort things out. However, Kagome made a mental note to tell Miroku to lay off the groping and especially the village girls if he ever wanted a chance with Sango.

"So Kagome-chan," Sango was all to happy to change the subject, "what exactly happened to you while you were gone? You leave with Inuyasha to find the Shikon shard and come back carried like precious cargo by a strange _youkai _but then he just dumps you and runs. Plus, you don't have the shard, as Inuyasha was so quick to point out. So, what happened?"

Kagome began to explain her trip and how she had defied death no less than three times before Inuyasha had managed to find her. "Now the story gets confusing. I know that when I passed out, the shard was in my hand. However, when I woke up this morning, it was gone. So why, if he wanted to steal the shard, did he go ahead and return me to camp? I mean he certainly could've killed us both, Inuyasha looked half dead even _after_ he had been asleep for a few hours. That's the part I just can't figure out." She looked over to Sango. "Any ideas?"

"No, that _is_ strange. Didn't you have your other shards in the bottle around your neck?" At Kagome's nod she continued, "Are any of those shards missing?"

"No, that's the truly bizarre part, he only took the one shard," Kagome said.

"Well, I guess that we can assume he isn't after the Shikon no Tama, at least not right now, otherwise he would have stolen all of the shards. It just doesn't make any sense," Sango stated, confused. Both girls let their thoughts wander as they tried to find a reasonable explanation for Hiei's actions. "Oh well, I'm getting all wrinkled, I think I'm going to head back to camp. Are you coming, Kagome-chan?"

"Go on ahead. I've used quite a bit of energy in the last few days, so I think I am going to stay here and take some time to meditate. Please make sure Inuyasha and Miroku will leave me alone for a while."

Kagome watched Sango nod and head back to camp. She didn't want to worry Sango, but she had felt a jewel shard on the edge of her mind all day. By meditating, she would be able to focus her energy more directly and hopefully pinpoint the shard's exact location. She had a sneaking suspicion about who held the shard, but she would need to concentrate to confirm her thoughts. While sensing the shards was fairly easy for her, actually sensing the aura around the shard was much more difficult.

The moment Kagome dropped into her meditation she knew the shard was much closer than she had thought. Apparently something had been blocking it from her senses, because with her heightened awareness she could tell the shard was only a couple miles west of her current location. Even with concentration, Kagome could discern nothing about the aura of the shard's owner. Either it was a clever trap, a very powerful _youkai_, or the shard was unclaimed.

Kagome faithfully trusted her instinct and it rarely led her wrong. Right now, it was telling her that a certain pointy-haired thief was residing less than two miles away. Even though she had no proof, she decided to trust her gut once again. She debated her plan of attack. She knew that a head-on attack would not work. She would need stealth and skill to get close enough to touch Hiei. Miroku had given her several scrolls that would immobilize a _youkai_ but she was not skilled enough to throw them; she had to actually place them by touch.

Kagome concentrated on masking her scent and aura. She knew her aura would give her away long before her scent did, so she tried to match her aura to the surrounding forest, blending them together until they were nearly identical. Her hardest lesson had been not to mask her aura, which was fairly easy, but to mask it in such a way that it didn't seem like a masked aura at all. Just as an aura was easily distinguishable, an area with no aura was just as noticeable.

--

Something was wrong. Hiei's Jagan had woken him from his light slumber. He tensed, his body humming with pent-up energy. However, when he was not attacked, he began to search for the source of the disturbance. The slightest movement caught his eye to the left. To his utter astonishment the miko from this morning was stealthily sneaking up on him and she was less than thirty feet away.

'Why didn't I sense her long ago? How did she find me and how in the hell did she get this close without my knowledge,' Hiei thought angrily. If it hadn't been for his Jagan, he still would not be able to sense her, even with her so close. It had been mere luck that he had even seen her and he still had not heard a sound. 'She's pretty good,' he admitted grudgingly. Hiei's sinful smirk fell into place as he dropped silently from his tree branch. 'Well, it seems like she wants to play, so let's play.'

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Yay! The path into the unknown wins again!

Now, some vague answers your common questions:

-At this point I'm pretty sure Hiei and Kagome will meet in the future. I'm just trying to find a good way that doesn't involve the three cliches: Kagome is Yusuke's cousin, Kagome gets transferred to Yusuke's school because of her grades, the detective's get assigned to follow/protect/assist/kidnap Kagome.

-I have a plan for Hiei that must take place in the past, but I'm still not sure if the main bulk of the fluff is going to be in the present or the past, or both.

-The rest of the characters are probably going to start showing up eventually. I've been kicking around the idea of adding some interest from Kurama, or more specifically Youko, especially if my muse decides to bring him into the story in the past.

Please review if you feel like it or if you would like to keep my muse well fed and happy. :)


	10. Attack

Sorry for all of the back story in the past few chapters (and this chapter) but the origins need to be set in place before I progress too much further.

Wow, the back story in this chapter took on a life of its own, which is why it took me a while to update. The muse strikes again.

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review! I'll really love it that other people are enjoying the story!**

This is rather ridiculous. If you still don't know that they are not mine, well, let's just hope McDonald's will hire you.

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She was close, she could feel it with every fiber of her being--even if she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. She had been moving slowly and stealthily for the last half mile, it was not a good idea to underestimate an unknown opponent after all. Her energy, back to normal levels, was entirely focused on her surroundings and the shard that was now less than twenty feet away.

Suddenly, the shard moved. She crouched, automatically assuming the defensive position she had learned through much arduous practice. However, now her body responded almost on its own, tensing and preparing for attack or defense. Gone was the weak girl that had fallen into the well almost four years ago and in her place stood a warrior miko able to defend herself and her friends.

Although she still highly preferred her bow and arrows, she now also carried either a short sword or a long dagger, depending on who was describing it. Hand to hand combat was only used as a last resort, since even now she did not like to be that close to the action. Kagome would be the first to admit that she was the weakest at close quarters fighting. If it wasn't for her ability to purify her weapons and cast barriers, she would not survive a fight with even a moderately strong youkai.

--

It was just over two and a half years ago that Kagome decided she needed to quit running from every _youkai_ out to get her. Not only was she tired of Inuyasha's constant complaints about her being weak, she knew that she had the ability to be one of strongest members of the team. Sango could knock _youkai_ down or cut them in half, Inuyasha could cut demons to bits, and Miroku could suck them up, but she could purify them into dust. If they ever wanted to defeat Naraku, she would need to know how to protect herself and her friends.

She had went to Kaede first, in secret, asking the old miko to train her mind and her growing miko power. It had been the most frustrating eight months of her entire life. She knew she had the power to create barriers and purify at will, but she did not have the control needed to bend the power to her will.

Of course her friends had found out about her "secret" plan shortly after she began and while they meant well, the pitying looks in their eyes every time she failed did not help her. Around the sixth month they even began dropping not-so-subtle hints that maybe she just wasn't cut out to be a true miko. The fact that her friends no longer believed in her was a huge blow to Kagome. She almost gave up entirely, but some little stubborn piece of her soul refused to quit.

It was that tiny piece of soul that had forced Kagome to do the smartest, or perhaps stupidest, thing she had ever done. She ran away. She waited until it was a pouring down rain, to better mask her scent, and she told everyone she was going to visit her mom for a while, since they wouldn't be shard hunting anyway. Once she reached the well, she tacked a note there, letting everyone know that she needed some time and space to figure out her life. She also told Inuyasha that if he even _thought_ about telling her mother anything she would know about it and sit him from halfway across Japan.

She picked a direction and started running. Since she was in such good shape from all of her other experience in running, she managed to run for almost five hours before she had to quit for the day. Fate must have been smiling on her personal quest, because she had remembered her bow and arrows and she even had a compass so she would hopefully move in a single direction. That way she wouldn't be lost in feudal Japan forever, since she couldn't exactly pull out a handy road atlas to find her location and the nearest bust stop.

She traveled for three more days before finding a suitable place to stop. Her glamorous accommodations included a tiny cave overlooking a waterfall fed pool and a small meadow surrounded by towering oak trees. A single pear tree grew in the middle of the grassy meadow. It looked like Heaven to Kagome.

While she was exploring the area, Kagome came across what appeared to be a very old grave marker. It was at the edge of the meadow and almost covered in weeds. Kagome decided that since she was there anyway, she should show proper respect to the dead and clean up the site. She removed all of the weeds and even found a few flowers to place on the grave. She said a little prayer and decided that as long as she was here, she would take care of this site, since she would not want her own grave to be overgrown by weeds and forgotten.

She had been there for two weeks when she finally managed to cast her first barrier. Granted, it had been extremely weak and only lasted for a few seconds, but it had been a barrier none the less. Within another week she was able to cast a barrier at will, but it still required an enormous amount of energy and concentration. During her entire three week stay Kagome had not seen a single _youkai_ which should have set off warning bells and sirens. Kagome just attributed it to her good fortune. She really should have known that she was not that lucky.

She was idly leaning up against the pear tree and watching the long meadow grass sway in the breeze when suddenly all of her developing miko senses went on high alert. They were screaming "DANGER, DANGER!" with such force that she just froze. She managed to look up to see a swiftly approaching figure clothed in white with glowing crimson eyes.

'Oh shit, I'm going to die,' Kagome thought rather calmly, considering the situation. She watched in fascination as the figure appeared to be rushing towards her in slow motion. She made no move to defend herself, as it would be rather pointless to start now. In a few seconds she wouldn't have to worry about it anyway. Imagine, then, her surprise when just as the _youkai's_ claws were going to slice through her throat, her barrier sprang into place in the strongest form she had ever seen it.

Kagome totally forgot about the seething _youkai_ standing in front of her while she examined the barrier surrounding her in awe. "I can't believe it. I can't even feel the drain on my power that it must be causing. Did I really create this?" she reached her hand up to the barrier, half expecting to be harshly zapped. When the barrier just expanded to continue to cover her hand she almost fell over in shock. She knew it was her barrier; she was intensely familiar with the feel of her own power since she had been working with it for the past six months.

Kagome was snapped out of her trance by the harsh sound of growling coming from directly in front of her. She looked up confused, only to meet a pair of flashing golden eyes. Suddenly she remembered why the barrier had appeared in the first place. 'I guess I should be happy his eyes aren't crimson any more. At least it's a step in the right direction.'

"Miko," the words were ground out between his clenched teeth, "how dare you defile this place with your... filthy... presence... WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?!?" he exploded. After she had foiled his murder attempt he had managed to calm down and was only going to thoroughly instill an enormous amount of fear into her and then send her on her way. She, however, apparently had other plans.

After Kagome had finished staring at the _youkai's_ golden eyes, she expanded her observation to include his gorgeous face and his furry, beautiful, irresistible ears. She was captivated and _nothing_ was going to keep her from touching those enticing appendages. After all, she had rubbed Inuyasha's ears when he was pinned to a tree with an arrow, so a little _youkai_ hostility was not going to slow her down much.

'Ah, they are just as soft as they look. They're even better than Inuyasha's ears, bigger too,' she thought with a giggle. She was roughly brought back to the present when the _youkai_ began shouting her face and then picked her up by her throat. Evidently she had forgotten about her barrier and so it had therefore forgotten about her.

So here she was, dangling from the claws of an angry looking _youkai_ while she unconsciously continued to rub his ears. As soon as she saw what she was doing, she jerked her hands back like they were on fire. "Uh... heh... sorry about that, _Youkai-san,_ I... uh... didn't mean to?" she looked at him hopefully. It didn't look like he was buying it.

"So, miko, where is your precious barrier? Don't think I'm enough threat anymore?" he said with glinting fangs. He watched as the miko seemed to deflate in front of his eyes, a sad look coming to her face.

"It's not that I don't think that you are threatening enough, _Youkai-san,_ it's just that the stupid barrier doesn't work to begin with. I have no idea what happened a second ago, I've never created a barrier that strong before. I think my energy hates me. Stupid energy for a stupid miko, I've heard it enough times."

The _youkai_ continued to watch the fascinating girl grumble on, seemingly unaware that she was still dangling by her neck. 'I like this girl--she has a fiery spirit, even if she doesn't know it yet. Plus I've never seen this place look better; it must be all of the miko energy.' He glanced towards the grave and was startled to see it had been cleaned up.

"Miko," he broke into her grumblings about stupid _hanyous_, "did you tend to the grave?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone knew it was here so I decided to take care of it while I was staying here. Sorry." she mumbled.

"It's alright. That is my mother's grave but I only manage to check on it every few years, so I'm glad someone else has been looking after it. How long have you been here?"

"I've been here three weeks. I sort of ran away from my friends. I was planning to stay until I mastered my miko energy or I ran out of food, whichever was first," she explained. "At this rate it looks like I will die of starvation. Anyway, if it's ok with you I'll just grab my bag and be off." She tried to move toward the cave only to realize that she was still hanging in the air.

"No, it is not alright with me, miko." He watched her eyes widen and the slightest trace of fear creep into her scent. Surprisingly it was the first fear he had felt from the girl since he had been rushing at her in a rage.

"I will leave immediately then, if you will release me," she said timidly, her eyes downcast.

"No." He didn't really mean the girl any harm and he had even been planning to tell her that he meant that she could stay, since she had been taking care of the place. However, now his sadistic side had taken over and he wanted to see how the girl would respond. He watched as her eyes widened and then immediately narrowed in anger. 'Good. The girl has backbone.'

At first Kagome thought she misheard. When she realized he really had denied her request to be released she went livid. It had already been an emotionally taxing day for the poor girl but this really topped it off. She searched her soul for the warm pink light of her energy. 'No more playing nice,' she thought angrily. When she found her power she forcibly grabbed a hold of it and forced almost all of it out of her body. She didn't really care how it got out, as long as it fried the arrogant _youkai_ smirking in front of her.

He began to rethink his strategy when the miko's power increased dramatically. He really began to regret his strategy when she started glowing faintly pink with energy. Luckily for him, he dropped her a fraction of a second before her power exploded outward. He knew the only reason he would live was her lack of training. If that much power had been sent directly into his body, he would already be pounding on Hell's door. Still, that didn't mean it hurt any less. It felt like his entire body was being bathed in liquid fire. From the girl's screams it apparently wasn't fun for her either

Kagome was experiencing a pain more intense than anything she could imagine. 'At least it will piss Kikyo off to know that her reincarnation was the first miko to ever kill herself with her own power,' she thought humorlessly. She looked at the pain-stricken face of the _youkai_ in front of her and regretted giving in to her emotions. He hadn't really acted threatening, after his first attack, and no one should have to suffer this pain unless they really, really deserved it. "I'm so sorry," she whispered before she blacked out.

He watched her whisper her apology and then pass out. Thankfully once she lost consciousness, her power ceased pouring out of her body. He hadn't felt pain like this for a long, long time but he knew that he must get them both safely into the cave. While it appeared to be a tiny little cave, barely four feet by five feet, it really was the entrance to a much larger cave complex. He knew the plant barrier currently protecting the entrance would protect them as well, if he could just get inside.

It had taken him almost a half an hour of grueling pain, but they were both safely inside his cave, along with her bag that had been in the entryway. He had barely enough energy left to walk over to his sleeping pallet for some much needed rest.

Kagome was more comfortable than she had been for the last month. She was lying on something soft and she was wrapped up in a wonderful silky blanket. It was bliss. If only her body would stop throbbing in pain, everything would be perfect. She snuggled her pillow, trying to find a more comfortable spot, when it grunted. 'Since when do pillows grunt?' She was just about to write it off to her imagination and go back to sleep when something started to tickle her leg. "Can't a girl even get some sleep around here?" she mumbled sleepily.

"You _have_ been sleeping, for two days straight, I might add."

Okay, she could write off her pillow grunting, but it _certainly_ did not speak in a sexy masculine voice. Her eyes popped open, only to be met by an equally open pair of golden eyes. Those eyes were the only thing required to bring back the flood of memories. She groaned.

"I think we may have gotten off to a bad start, so I think we should try again. What do you say?" the masculine voice asked her.

Just the sound of his voice almost lulled Kagome back into dreamland, but the clawed finger that poked her ribs brought her right back. She glared at him. "I think a fresh start is a good idea, assuming you aren't planning to poke me again." He merely put on his best innocent look and raised his eyebrows. She blushed. "My name is Kagome Higurashi and I'm a miko, albeit a poor one. I am spending some time away from my friends in order to master my power. Hopefully. I just happened upon this clearing and decided it was a good place to stay; I didn't know it belonged to you. Oh yeah, I'm really sorry I zapped you earlier."

"It's nice to meet you Kagome-san. I am the legendary thief, Youko Kurama," he glared when she giggled.

"Sorry, sorry. I've just never met anyone quite so conceit... umm...." she saw his glare, "famous. Yes, famous. That's all."

He knew she was lying but he decided to let it go. "As I was saying, I am Youko Kurama and this was my mother's favorite place to stay, which is why she is buried outside. The entire area is guarded by my plants, so I am unsure how you made it here unscathed. As I said before, it has been two days since you tried to kill us both. How are you feeling?"

Kagome looked away, embarrassed by the fact that she had nearly killed him but he still brought her in to his home. However, once she had broken away from his mesmerizing eyes, she noticed her current position. 'Well, that explains why I was so comfortable,' she thought.

She was curled up against Youko's side, with his tail wrapped around her bare legs and his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Her rational mind was screaming for her to move, but she was so warm and snuggly that she ignored it. "My body hurts, and I'm still sleepy," she said through a yawn. She laid her her head on Youko's chest and fell back asleep to the rhythmic sound of his beating heart.

Kagome and Youko became close friends. Youko taught her how to control her power and channel it into her hands, "in case a _youkai _is holding you by the throat." Kagome thought that it was rather ironic that a fox _youkai_ could teach her how to master her miko energy in less than a month, while she had struggled for six months with Kaede teaching her. She watched amazed at how Youko could use his _youki_ to grow the most beautiful, exotic plants she had ever seen, and then turn around a grow a man eating death tree with the same energy.

They would work and play all day and then every night Youko would make a pass at her and every night she would politely refuse. It became something of a game to them after Youko realized that she was not ready for a one night stand and he did not want a long term commitment. Still, every night Kagome would go to sleep wrapped in her sleeping bag, only to wake up in the morning wrapped up with Youko. It was totally platonic, but it still made her feel happy and cared for, something she had been lacking for a while.

The days passed quickly and in a flash a month had passed. Kagome had been gone from her friends for two months and she knew they would be worried. On their last night together Kagome had told Youko of her quest. She had made him grudgingly promise to never become involved with the Shikon no Tama. He told her to stay out of trouble and that he would check in with her from time to time and expected her to be whole and healthy.

He led her into a room she had not seen before. She knew he was supposedly a famous thief, but this room proved that his story was true. It was filled with gold, jewels, paintings, and many other extremely valuable items. "Pick anything and it's yours," he told her. He began holding up gold and jewels, weapons and armor, and various scrolls and paintings.

As she looked around in awe, a small object caught her eye. She moved closer, totally forgetting about Youko, and picked it up. It was a delicate silver bracelet crafted like a vine full of blooming roses. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry Kagome had ever seen and she decided it would be rude of her to even ask for it. She looked at it wistfully and carefully put it back.

"That was my mother's. It was a gift from my father when they were courting. She never took it off, it was her favorite piece of jewelry, even above all of the riches my father would bring home. "

Kagome looked around the room, but the bracelet was the only thing that had caught her eye. "Thank you for your kindness, Youko, I think I will take a few of these coins back to my brother--he is becoming quite a collector," Kagome said while picking out some of the lesser valued coins.

"Are you sure that is all you want? Don't you want anything for yourself? As you can see I have plenty to share." Youko watched as her unconsciously eyes drifted back to his mother's bracelet before she shook her head. "No thank you Youko, my brother will be delighted with these and I'm sure he will really appreciate your generosity as well."

Finally, the morning dawned and Kagome knew she had to leave for Inuyasha's village. She understood that Youko was ready to travel again as well and had only been staying for her benefit. In a rare show of bravery Kagome reached up and rubbed Youko's ears, while pulling his head down. She barely brushed her lips against his and whispered her farewell. She had turned around and taken a single step, tears shining in her eyes, when he grabbed her wrist and spun her around.

His mouth was hot and demanding on hers and her lips parted willingly under the onslaught. He pulled her body flush to his and placed one hand possessively on her lower back while the other remained buried in the hair at the nape of her neck. He groaned in satisfaction when her tongue hesitantly slid against his.

Between the feel of her body pressed against his and the way her scent was spiking, he knew he would have to leave, and quickly, or he would not leave at all. As he pulled away to stare into her dazed eyes, he knew that for the first time in his life he would have to give up, for now, something that he truly wanted. "Goodbye, my Kagome. May we meet again soon," and with that he was gone, a white blur disappearing into the surrounding trees.

Kagome had stood for a good five minutes, her hand on her mouth, before she had gathered her scattered wits. It was then that she noticed the slight weight on her arm. Looking down, she saw the bracelet she had been admiring the night before. 'No, I can't take his mother's bracelet,' she reasoned. "Youko! Come back here! I won't take your mother's bracelet! Come back!" she yelled into the surrounding forest. Only silence answered her. "Fine! I'll just give it back the next time I see you!" She took one last look at the peaceful clearing and headed back to the village. Little did she know that Youko had followed her the entire way, ensuring her a safe journey.

Her friends had been both relieved and angry when she returned. However, when she showed them what she had learned, they had grudgingly admitted that it had been a worthwhile journey. She never told her friends about Youko, preferring to keep him her own little secret. Over the following years she had seen him a few times, always in the same manner: he would steal her from her sleeping bag to lay and talk with him all night, and then she would always wake up back in camp. She often wondered if she had only dreamed the encounters, but the single rose in her pack always alleviated her fears.

Once she had mastered her powers, it was a fairly easy task, comparatively, to direct them into barriers, spells, and purification. Healing was more difficult, especially healing _youkai, but she had mastered that as well. _She asked Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha to teach her how to fight, a decision she regretted on many occasions when she was too sore to walk. Slowly, though, she had learned how to be a productive member of the team instead of a burden.

--

Kagome was still crouched, waiting on the _youkai_ to make a move. It was too dark and there were too many trees to use her bow and arrows, so she had pulled out her dagger. She was almost positive that the _youkai_ a few feet away was Hiei, but she was taking no chances. Miroku's scrolls were clutched tightly in her left hand. All she had to do was touch the demon and he would be rendered motionless until she removed the scroll.

Kagome figured that the _youkai_ already knew she was there, so she went ahead and created her barrier. It wasn't her normal pink shiny barrier, which would give her away with its glowing luminescence, it was a transparent version that she had been working on. It required more concentration than her normal version, but it was indispensable for a battle in the dark. She was alone, after all, and every precaution needed to be taken. It almost seemed like that was what the demon was waiting for, since as soon as her barrier fell into place, the _youkai_ was on the move.

She decided to risk revealing her location. "Hiei-san, I don't want to fight with you but I've come for the jewel shard. Please show yourself." Even though Kagome was ninety percent sure that it was Hiei out there, she put even more energy into her barrier. She didn't want any surprises to break though. The shard was heading straight for her, so either the _youkai_ was tracking to her voice or had known where she was all along.

'I really, really, really hope I'm not wrong about this.' Kagome was beginning to have some doubts. "Too late now," she mumbled.

"Indeed, miko, it is too late now." Hiei stepped out from around the tree directly in front of Kagome. At least she assumed it was Hiei, except he had some sort of glowing eye in the middle of his forehead. She noticed the bandanna he wore previously was gone and she figured that the bandanna had only been to hide the eye in the first place. She saw a glint from the corner of her eye and realized Hiei's katana was held lazily in his right hand. She was not deceived, she had barely seen him move against Shinbuu and yet the demon had fallen into pieces at her feet.

She knew that she was no match for him, not even on her best day, so she sheathed her dagger and stood up straight. She pushed even more energy into her barrier, since it was the only thing that would protect her now. Kagome could consciously feel the drain on her energy at this point, but she also knew that she would be able to maintain a barrier this strong for several hours. All that meditation she had done was finally paying off.

'Hiei-san, please give me the shard. I will not leave without it, whatever the cost," she stated firmly.

--

Hiei felt the miko's power rise yet again, but he could not see the barrier he assumed must be encasing her. He had unleashed the Jagan's full power in order to properly track her, because he still could not sense her energy. "Tell me, miko, why should I give the shard to you? I was the one to kill the pathetic _youkai_ that held the shard before, therefore it is rightfully mine."

Kagome sighed. "The shard never belonged to Shinbuu. The jewel belongs to me--I am it's guardian. Since it was my fault the jewel was shattered to begin with, it is my responsibility to find all of the shards. Even a single shard in the wrong hands can cause tremendous damage and I will not allow any more innocent people to be hurt because of my mistake. Please give me the shard peacefully or I will be forced to take it by any means I deem necessary."

A smirk appeared on Hiei's face. "Miko, do you really think that you are any match for me? The only reason that you are still alive is because I have not yet decided to kill you. If you want your precious shard, you will have to take it from me, if you can," he sneered.

Kagome'seyes narrowed and her mouth firmed into a straight line at the obvious challenge in his voice. "Very well, so be it. I will try not to hurt you, but do not forget that you are the one that caused this." She shifted her weight forward to the balls of her feet for better agility. 'I have to immobilize him, which means I will need to get him close enough to touch. I am fairly sure my barrier will withstand his attack and when he does, that will be my opportunity.' Her gaze became calculating, trying to determine Hiei's first move. 'He relies heavily on his speed. I will only have the tiniest amount of time once he is within reach.'

She felt the shard moving before her eyes could detect movement from Hiei. She ducked just as his katana sliced the air where her neck used to reside. 'He's faster than I thought. My barrier will be put to the test tonight,' Kagome thought grimly, 'However, as long as he has the shard I will at least be able to track his movement.' She felt his blade as it glanced off of her barrier, right in front of her heart. 'I guess he's not going to go easy on me tonight, so I will return the favor.' She drew her dagger and purified the blade, making sure the glowing purification was clearly visible. She might not be able to injure him with it, but it would draw his attention away from her true purpose.

Kagome felt the shard move again, this time off to her right. She blindly swung her dagger in that direction and was immediately surprised to hear fabric ripping. Judging by the look on Hiei's face, he was also stunned. She saw that she had only caught the edge of his cloak, certainly nothing serious, but she had inflicted damage nonetheless.

A surge of anger shot through Hiei. 'This human miko has managed to predict my location and has even successfully attacked me. She will die,' he snarled in his thoughts. With all of his strength his thrust his katana at her, hoping to shatter her barrier. He felt the resistance begin about eight inches from her skin; it just made him put more effort into the attack. His eyes began to bleed red as his attack continued to fail. At the exact moment he felt the resistance finally give way and his katana began its deadly descent into her flesh, he saw her left hand flash up and slap a glowing scroll on the side of his neck, instantly freezing him.

Kagome looked at her stomach and thought she would throw up. Hiei's katana was currently embedded about two inches deep in the right side of her stomach. She leaned back, watching in morbid fascination as the blade emerged from her flesh. Her rational mind realized she must be in shock, because she had yet to feel the pain. She dropped to the ground, panting.

She let her barrier fall and used all of that energy to begin healing her stomach before she bled to death. 'Calm down, Kagome. Everything is fine. It's just a scratch, really. Nothing to be worried about. Remember to breathe. It'll be ok; I am not going to let some pointy-haired demon kill me.' She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, hissing each time her stomach expanded.

Based on previous experience, and due to the fact that it was a fairly clean wound, it would probably only take her miko energy about ten minutes to fully heal her. Ten really painful minutes as her flesh was knitted together, but she had endured worse.

Hiei was livid. He couldn't move any part of his body except enough to breathe. He couldn't even move his mouth to yell at the miko currently bleeding on the ground in front of him. He had already tried burning the scroll off with his _youki_, but the scroll must have suppressed his energy as well as his movement. His Jagan, however, seemed to be unaffected.

'I will show this bitch who she is dealing with. I will break her mind so thoroughly that she will wish to be dead.' Hiei bent his considerable skill and all of the energy of his Jagan into breaking through her mental barriers.

Kagome shakily stood up. Her wound had mostly healed and she still needed to get the shard from Hiei before he was able to break free from the seal. She stepped carefully around his blade and felt for a pocket where she knew the shard was residing. She found the shard and stepped back. Just as she was about to make a deal to let Hiei loose, she felt something prodding her mental barriers. She put more energy into them as a precaution.

He watched the miko find the shard and take a step back. He prodded her mental barriers and noticed she looked surprised. He did not find any holes in her barrier, so he would have to make a full force attack, something he was more than happy to do. He concentrated his power and decided where he would like to attack. Once he found a suitable spot, he unleashed the power of his Jagan.

Kagome was well aware that there was nothing worse than someone trying to invade her mind. Even if they were being stealthy, the process was intensely painful. However, she had never experienced the level of pain she felt at this moment. The pain in her stomach dissolved into nothing, there was only the pain in her mind.

Someone or something was orchestrating a direct attack on her mental barriers. The pain was excruciating but she knew she had to stay conscious to fight off the attack. She dropped to her knees and her mouth opened as an involuntary scream escaped. Her body started to glow light pink as her mind was focused on protecting itself. She never even noticed that she continued to scream in agony.

As soon as Hiei heard her scream, he almost gave up his attack. It was the most pitiful and horrifying sound he had ever heard. He remembered that he was frozen in place, though, and kept up the attack, although with much less enthusiasm. Her continued screams kept tearing at his will and he knew, deep in his heart, that if she continued to scream he would eventually give up his attack.

Far away, a lone fox demon heard the heart wrenching wails of a person in great pain and agony. "Kagome!" The whisper seemed to come from thin air, as the fox was already racing away into the night.

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I really hate those annoying author's notes in the middle of the story, so this annoying author's note was moved to the end. You have _no idea_ how tempted I was to quit here and post this chapter. It could have been Sesshoumaru, Youko, or Naraku, just to name the most obvious. Then I realized that would be doubly mean since I was also in the middle of Kagome's background, so I didn't do it. :)

Wow. This chapter is twelve pages typed up in OpenOffice. It turned into a monster that just wouldn't quit.

I have also come up with a pretty good idea for Kagome in the future, but you'll just have to wait and see what it is. evil grin Oh yeah, I like it. It'll probably be coming up the chapter after next, if my muse doesn't decide to stray again, so stay tuned.

Review if you feel like it, since I certainly love to get feedback.


	11. Confrontation

To reiterate, especially for those of you who haven't been reading these notes (shame on you!):

- Kagome and Hiei will meet in Kagome's time, probably in the next chapter, depending on my muse.

- This is a **Kagome/Hiei** fic, but there will be some fluff between Youko/Kurama and Kagome, since I didn't want Hiei to have an easy time of it. Plus jealousy makes people do and say things they normally would avoid. :)

-----------------------------------------

Hiei felt like the lowest form of scum. He had used his Jagan on many enemies in the past, but never on a creature so pure and innocent as Kagome. She had merely been fulfilling her quest for the shards, a shard which he refused to hand over. He remembered her reluctance to fight and her warning that he may get hurt. He had automatically assumed it was because she was afraid of him, but really it was because she did not want to fight him.

Even after he had stabbed her in the stomach, she had just immobilized him without harming him. She had taken only the shard and had not sought any revenge for the wound he inflicted on her. If he had to guess, even if his mind did not want to believe it, he would guess that she had been about to remove his seal when he decided to attack. He felt guilt stab through his heart as he saw her clutching her head, crying pitifully. 'What have I done?'

As Youko was nearing what he assumed to be the halfway point, the agonized screaming abruptly stopped. Fearing the worst, he sped up even more. The surrounding plants sensed the urgency in his youki and cleared his path as much as possible. He was moving so quickly that any observer would only see the tiniest flash of white, if they saw anything at all.

The sight that met his eyes immediately pushed him over the edge into pure demon rage. Kagome was lying on the ground, sobbing brokenly, covered in blood. The youkai that was attacking her was still standing over her body, her blood dripping from the end of his katana. Faster than the eye could follow, Youko knocked the sword from the demon's hand and slashed deeply into his chest. He watched in satisfaction as deep red blood spilled from the wound.

Youko didn't know why the youkai wasn't fighting back and frankly he didn't care. This demon would suffer ten times what he had inflicted on Kagome. Just as he was about to plunge his claws into the demon's third eye, which he could feel was trying to break through his mental barriers, Kagome's voice stopped him, his hand a hair's breadth away from its intended target.

Kagome looked up as the youkai she had been sensing drew near. She knew his energy felt familiar, but her scattered wits had not given her any more information than that. She was extremely relieved to see Youko's white-clothed form entering their impromptu battleground. Even though her tear filled eyes she could recognize her friend and the dangerous look in his blood red eyes.

She watched as Youko slashed through Hiei's chest and looked like he was going for his third eye. Hiei was going to be in deep shit unless she could distract Youko long enough to explain. "Youko, stop!" Kagome winced when her voice came out harsh and raspy, rather pitiful sounding, actually.

Youko forgot the youkai he had been about to maul and rushed over to Kagome. "Kagome, where are you injured? Tell me exactly what happened."

"My injury is almost healed, it was just a scratch." She glanced over to Hiei's blade and saw two inches of blood on the end of it. 'Well, it _was_ a scratch, just a really deep one. No need to get him even more worked up than he already is though.' She needed to heal Hiei, even if he had just attacked her in the most horrible way possible. He had quit before he succeeded, after all, and that said something.

Kagome's instinct about people was very rarely wrong, and her instinct was telling her that Hiei was not a fundamentally evil person. After all, every person in her current group had attacked first, even Sango, who was now like a sister to her. Not only that but they also shared the same goal: to see Naraku dead.

"Youko, I'm sure you won't understand but I ask that you trust me about this. I have to heal Hiei," she ignored Youko's vicious snarl, "but I'm not sure that I have the strength required to do it and I do not want to risk purifying him. I will need you to help me direct and contain my energy, just as you did so long ago when I was first learning. Will you do this for me, please?" Kagome looked at him with pleading eyes; eyes that conveyed more than her words ever would.

"Kagome, you know I will do anything for you, but this... this is ridiculous! Why on earth would you want to heal the very person who caused you such pain and suffering in the first place? You should go back to your friends and let me handle this little bastard!" Youko cracked his knuckles, an evil glint in his eye, as the plants around him began to tremble with anticipation.

"Youko, _please!_ I promise I will explain later but I need to heal him now, before he bleeds to death. Please? Please help me?" Kagome pleaded.

Youko knew he would help her, especially when she was looking at him so hopefully. "Fine, but the first move he makes that I don't like, I'm going to kill him, pleading eyes or no, do you understand?" Kagome appeared to think about it for a second and then nodded her head in agreement. It was the best she was going to get from the overprotective kitsune. 'I just hope Hiei understands as well and doesn't do anything stupid.'

Youko bent down and helped Kagome stand up. Her physical wound was healed but the pain from the Jagan's attack was still fresh in her mind. Both demons watched as she took hesitant steps towards Hiei. Youko growled menacingly when he felt her fear increasing with each step. 'That bastard has done something horrible to make her fear him even now. I should have killed him when I had the chance.'

Hiei could also smell her fear and noticed that she would not make eye contact with him, even when she stopped directly in front of him. He growled mentally when the kitsune came up and wrapped his arms around Kagome, easing some of her fear. 'Why do I care if she is afraid of me and not him? It was my goal to instill fear in her in the first place.' Hiei thought sourly.

He watched as her hands began to glow softly then the energy was transferred into his wound. He felt the warmth of her energy flow through his body but this time it was tinged with the bitter feel of fear. Also, her mind was more tightly guarded than it was normally, ensuring that he could not feel any of her emotions. He could feel the wound on his chest closing, his youkai healing aided by her energy. The kitsune, who still had his arms wrapped tightly around Kagome, was glaring at him with pink-tinged golden eyes. 'How can this one human woman have so many people willing to protect her?' Hiei wondered.

Kagome finally felt the wound close and sagged with exhaustion into Youko's arms. He held her tightly, letting some of his energy seep into her system. It was a delicate balance, even though her miko recognized Youko as a trusted friend. Too much youki, even the good variety, and her body would just purify itself, wasting the energy. It was a balance they had perfected long ago. She smiled gratefully at him. While it was well known that kitsunes fed off the energy of those around them, it was lesser known that they were willing and able to share their energy as well. She straightened her spine and looked into Hiei's eyes for the first time. "Hiei, since you are unable to speak to agree to the terms of your release, I will choose the terms and I bind you on your honor to uphold them. If you break the terms, I will leave your fate in the hands of Youko."

Youko grinned evilly. 'Please, please, just make one wrong move you little bastard and then you're all mine.'

"These are the terms. One, you will not leave until I have explained my quest or the sun rises, whichever occurs first. Two, for the length of time you are here you will not attack me or anyone else unless you are attacked first. Finally, once I remove your seal, you will immediately bind or seal your third eye for the length of time you are in my presence. I do not believe these terms are unreasonable and you are now honor bound to uphold them." Kagome stepped closer and touched the glowing scroll on Hiei's neck, watching with trepidation as it burned away to dust. 'Please don't prove me wrong about you, Hiei.'

Hiei knew the exact moment the sealing spell was removed. As he lifted his arm to rub the strained muscles in his neck, he saw the miko flinch in front of him and her fear increased dramatically. Seeing the miko flinch from him, a sight which should have brought him joy, or at least pride, instead caused pain and guilt to knife through his heart. He had no one to blame for this but himself, he had caused this trusting woman to doubt his intentions.

He had to agree that her terms were extremely reasonable, considering the circumstances. He did not like the fact that she had not given him a choice, but she had been fair even when she held all of the power. He replaced the bandanna over the Jagan, fulfilling the final condition. Now all he had to do was hang around until the sun rose.

He watched the kitsune pick the miko up and settle down against a tree with her in his lap. Something inside was snarling at the close familiarity the fox demon was showing, winding his tail around the girls legs and tucking her head under his chin. He watched the miko snake an arm up to absently scratch one of the demon's ears. His inner demon snarled even louder when he noticed the kitsune was still glaring at him, but that he was also sporting a smug smile. "I agree to your terms, miko, and you won't even need to have your pet attack me," Hiei sneered, causing Youko to growl and Kagome to sigh. 'It's going to be a long, long night,' Kagome thought tiredly.

"Very well, Hiei-san, you might as well sit down, my story will take a while to tell and it also involves you." At this Hiei raised his eyebrows. Kagome just closed her eyes and launched into the story, starting with Onigumo's transformation into Naraku. She told him of Kikyo's creation and subsequent betrayal. She explained Naraku's detachments and their constant fight to keep one step ahead of them. She finished her story with the shard they had been looking for on the mountain. She didn't give him all the details, just an overview, and the fact that she was from the future was left totally out. It was a heavily guarded secret and it had taken her over a year to trust Youko enough to feel comfortable telling him.

"So you see, Hiei-san, we both want to see Naraku defeated, just for different reasons. There are very few Shikon shards left that have not been claimed by Naraku. I have a few, Kouga-kun has a few and there are still a few scattered across Japan, although those shards are becoming increasingly rare and hard to find. I fear the final battle is drawing near..." Kagome trailed off, sighing. She had no idea what would happen after the Shikon no Tama was whole or even if she would survive long enough to find out.

"That is my story and the reason I am seeking the shards. Since I am personally responsible for breaking the Shikon no Tama, it is my duty to find the shards and make the jewel whole once again. I will not quit until the jewel is whole and Naraku is defeated and I will not let anyone stand in my way. _Anyone,_" she said while glaring at Hiei.

The past few hours had eased the pain of his attack and she had made a conscious effort to see the attack from his point of view, as self defense, and forgive him for it. She was not totally over it, but she was working in that direction. However, if he ever dared to try it again she would purify him into dust... slowly.

"I have told my story, so I release you from our agreement. You are free to go, but I will leave you with a warning. Do not underestimate Naraku. He is sneaky and underhanded and will do anything to achieve his goal. If you underestimate him, it may very well be the last thing that you do," Kagome told him, her voice somber.

"Hn," Hiei snorted, "I do not need some human female to tell me how to fight. Just because your little group cannot defeat Naraku does not mean that he is a difficult opponent. It merely means that you are weak."

Kagome's eyes narrowed, a sure sign of her growing anger. "Tell me, Hiei, how is it that this weak human managed to not only survive a fight with you, but to seal you in such a way that you could have been left here forever? If I am weak and I still managed to defeat you, what does that make you?"

Hiei clutched the hilt of his katana automatically. The miko's words had angered him, but it angered him more that he could not deny them. If he said that he was going easy on her then it would appear that he was soft-hearted and weak. However, if he said that he was fighting at full strength then she would think she had defeated him fairly and he would still appear weak. Hiei chose to keep his mouth shut, grinding his teeth in an effort to retain the last vestiges of his control.

Kagome stood up. It was nearing dawn and she knew her friends would be looking for her. "Very well, Hiei-san," she said, purposefully putting the honorific back on his name, "I wish you all the best in your fight against Naraku. Know, however, that you are welcome to join our group at any time to either seek or lend aid. I have been fighting Naraku for almost four years now and I know his twisted mind better than most. It will take a well coordinated group attack to defeat him, but you are welcome to try it alone. It is your life, after all, and your own destiny awaits you. May you choose it wisely." With that, she and Youko disappeared into the forest, back to her worried friends.

Hiei prided himself on his cool temper and his level head. Something about that girl, though, made his temper flare out of control. Ever since that fateful day at the thieves' camp Hiei had kept his temper and emotions on a tight reign. He was well known for his cool facade and calculating mind. This one woman, though, caused him to act impulsive, irrational, emotional, and totally out of control. 'What is it about her that can get to me? What is it..?' Hiei thought, frustrated.

Hiei considered her parting words. He had never been one to rush into battle and it would be no different with Naraku. He did know that he would _not_ need the aid of a bunch of humans, a hanyou, and the other various allies they had amassed. Hiei was confident in his own abilities and knew that he would be able to defeat Naraku without any help. Even though he knew that he, and he alone, would track down and kill Naraku, the miko's words kept ringing in his ears. 'She... she said I was welcome to join her group... even after I attacked and wounded her... how can she be so forgiving... who is this woman?'

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Ok, so I'm not too happy with the ending (or most of the rest of the chapter), but my muse is apparently on holiday and I wanted to get this chapter posted. I have a plan for Hiei that involves him not being part of the group yet, so don't get your hopes up. ;)

Also, it seems like next chapter will at least be the beginning of a time jump to Kagome's time. I have several plot bunnies running around my brain but I will probably be adding the rest of the Yu Yu gang at this point. Although with my muse MIA, anything could happen...

Review if you feel like it, I love to hear the feedback.


	12. Bath Time

Argh! It seems the cosmos are perfectly aligned against me. Not only are life and work getting in the way, now the "Holiday Season" is upon us. Plus, my muse is still being finicky and refuses to cooperate. Add all of those together and you see why I haven't updated in a while.

The other piece of bad news it that I leave on Tuesday for a trip home, so this will be my last update until after Christmas. I will see about writing some when I am home, but we all know how well that worked for Thanksgiving.

On with the story!

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"I don't trust him and neither should you! That bastard stabbed you and tried to break your mind, neither of which are easily forgivable. Yet, you still went ahead and invited him into your group, an invitation, I might mention, that took you a month to extend to me, even though we spent the entire time together!" Youko continued to grumble but Kagome was rather adept at blocking out annoying youkai.

She was not exactly sure why she had invited Hiei into the group, she just opened her mouth and the words tumbled out. 'Not like he will accept anyway, I don't have anything to worry about,' she reassured herself. If he had joined the group, she would be slightly worried for her friends' safety. While Hiei did not strike her as a fundamentally evil person, he did seem to have a rather short temper and only one strategy--attack! 'He and Inuyasha would get along splendidly,' she thought sarcastically.

They finally arrived back at the hot spring Kagome had visited earlier. Youko was still listing reasons not to trust "that bastard." Kagome had not really been paying attention but she caught the last of his argument about how anything with three eyes couldn't be trusted. That immediately brought to mind Toutousai's three-eyed cow. She couldn't help it, she started giggling at the thought of the cow ransacking villages and wreaking havoc. The villagers would run in terror as the cow attacked from above, "Run for your lives! It's the evil cow!!! NOOOooooo!" The giggles became laughter, loud enough to knock Youko from his tirade.

"What, exactly, do you find so amusing?" Youko demanded.

Kagome waved her hands, "Nothing, nothing... Oh look! My bag is still here! I can take a bath now and wash off all of this blood!" It had taken her a couple years and about thirty school uniforms to realize that maybe a tiny little skirt was not the ideal attire for fighting youkai. Now she wore tough cotton pants and sturdy shoes. She refused to wear the traditional miko robes, but she did have a kimono in the bottom of her bag. She found that if they were traveling through more populated areas the kimono kept her from standing out more than usual.

Kagome walked over to the edge of the spring and gave Youko a pointed look. He just projected an air of confusion. "Youko, turn around," she elaborated.

He just smiled at her. "Why would I want to do that? The view is _much_ better in this direction."

Kagome blushed. Suddenly a brilliant idea popped into her head. She gave Youko her best sexy smile while appearing to have trouble unbuttoning her shirt. "Youko, would you come here for a second? It seems like I may need some help." She made a "come hither" motion with her finger. Luckily for her, Youko was too busy with his own thoughts to recognize the mischievous look in her eyes. As soon as he was close enough, and looked like he would shred the clothes from her body, she grabbed his arm and half turned, rolling him over her hip and into the steaming water.

She was laughing even as he came up spluttering. After all, it wasn't every day you saw the _great_ Youko Kurama looking like a wet dog... err... fox. She however, did notice the dangerous look in his eyes and turned to run, but she underestimated the speed of a dripping wet youkai. Just as she was about to take her first step his hand snaked around her wrist and she was forcefully drug backwards into the spring.

She came up coughing water and laughing. 'At least I was planning to wash these clothes anyway,' she thought ruefully. The water at this end of the spring was deep enough that Kagome could not touch, although she noticed that Youko appeared to be standing easily enough. 'Must not be too deep then. If he can touch it's probably not a good idea to do _this_' the thought was punctuated with a splash in Youko's direction and Kagome's subsequent escape attempt in the opposite direction.

'So she wants to play? At least it is easing the hurt and tension out of her eyes and body. Although she should know better than to try and run.' He grabbed her ankle just before she swam totally out of reach. "Kagome..." he drawled.

She rolled over so she was facing him. "Yes..?"

"You do realize that you will not go unpunished for this little episode, correct? No one gets the better of Youko Kurama and lives to tell the tale."

She laughed and splashed him again, even though he still held her ankle captive. "So what is the great, almighty, notorious thief going to do to his poor, mostly innocent victim?" she asked, trying to make her expression as innocent and pitiful as possible. She was not liking the mischievous look in his eyes...

"Oh, nothing too terrible... I wouldn't want to harm my prisoner, would I?" His grin was pure evil. His grip on her ankle tightened as he slowly ran a claw from his other hand down the bottom of her foot, careful not to cut her. He had found, by pure accident, that the bottoms of her feet were extremely ticklish, a fact which he used to his advantage as often as possible. He began to tickle her in earnest, watching to make sure she didn't inhale too much water while she was flailing around, laughing loudly.

"Stop, stop, I'll do anything!" she finally managed to gasp.

"Anything, hmm? Alright, you have a deal." He pulled her close so that her body was flush against his. She looked up at him with trepidation but didn't say anything. "Now, what should I choose... you did agree to anything, did you not?"

He watched her mouth firm as her body stiffened slightly. "Yes, I agreed to anything." she stated, much of the humor fading from her expression, her eyes dropping to his chest. He gently put a hand under her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his again. His expression softened at the worry and uncertainty, but also fierce determination swirling in her eyes. He knew her honor would force her to agree to any terms he set, no matter how outlandish or impossible. "Kagome, you realize I would never ask something from you that you are unwilling to give freely, correct? This is, after all, merely a game."

She smiled up at him. "I know," she said, "it has just been a rough night, that's all".

"Well, since you have agreed to anything, this is my demand: you must wash my hair, since it is your fault that it is currently in such a terrible state." Youko watched as Kagome squealed in delight. She loved messing with his hair, and although he would never admit it, he liked it almost as much. She had such delicate hands and the way they would carefully massage his scalp and his ears was extremely relaxing.

After Kagome had washed his hair, and conditioned it, and braided it and finally decided there was nothing left to do, she forced Youko out of the spring so she could take a proper bath and wash her clothes. She was fairly surprised that her friends hadn't come by to look for her, but she figured they either really, really thought that she wanted to be alone or they had already looked here.

When Kagome was finally clean and dressed, she and Youko headed back toward camp. If her friends were sleeping, then who better to sneak her into camp than a famous thief? She was both relieved and rather proud that her friends were sleeping peacefully. After all, it meant that they were beginning to trust her to take care of herself. Youko picked her up and tucked her neatly into her waiting sleeping bag before kissing her cheek, promising to check on her again soon, and disappearing. Kagome easily drifted off into peaceful dreams full of gorgeous silver hair and golden eyes.

She awoke to sounds of yelling. Apparently Inuyasha wanted to wake her up and Sango was strongly, but much more quietly, refusing. She sighed and sat up, "I'm awake so stop yelling already. Sheesh, can't a girl get some peace and quiet in the morning?" Kagome yawned and started preparing for the day. She knew that she would have to visit home soon, both because she hadn't been home in over two months and because her infinite supply of ramen was running dangerously low. She even had the perfect plan to get Inuyasha to let her go home without a fight.

"Inuyasha, I think we need to head back to Kaede's village. I need to go home for a while, since I haven't seen my family in such a long time," she opened the conversation.

"Keh. You can't go home, we have shards to find. It'll be much easier to hear rumors up here than if we go all the way back to the village. We're not going back, and that's final!" Inuyasha replied, ready to launch into a thousand more good reasons for not letting Kagome go home.

"Hmm.." was Kagome's noncommittal reply, surprising everyone present. They all knew how the argument went and it generally ended with Inuyasha being sat and Kagome leaving anyway. This was definitely a change of plan.

Kagome noticed the water was boiling on the fire and decided to make breakfast. She knew that she only had three cups of ramen, but Inuyasha was not yet aware of that fact. She got two of the cups out and filled them with water, handing one to Sango and one to Miroku. She took out the final cup and filled it with water. Now to put her plan into effect. She got out her chopsticks and began to stir her ramen.

"Hey, where's my ramen? Why didn't you fix me a cup?" Inuyasha immediately began to complain.

"Oh, I'm sorry Inuyasha, this in the last cup," she said, pointing to the cup in her hand, "but I'm sure I have some more food in here..." She dug through her bag and came up with an energy bar, a variety that Inuyasha especially hated. She tossed the bar to him and watched his face darken.

"Listen, I know you have more ramen in there, you are just trying to get me to agree to let you go home. It ain't happening, so hand over the ramen before I tear your bag apart," he demanded.

Kagome leveled him with a glare. "Inuyasha, you are welcome to look through my bag but I assure you there is no ramen in it. If you destroy my bag though... you will regret it..." She smiled sweetly, adding a dangerous edge to her innocent sounding threat. Inuyasha got up and looked through her bag, emptying its contents in a search for the missing ramen. When he reached the bottom of the bag and still had not found anything, he began to get frustrated.

"Here Inuyasha, you can have my ramen, but only if you agree that we can go back to the village and I can go home. Do we have a deal?" Kagome gently wafted the ramen in his direction.

"Keh. Fine." Inuyasha grabbed the ramen out of her hand and downed it like he thought it would disappear if he stopped to chew. Of course, as soon as it was gone he began to grumble about her "underhanded" methods.

Two brutal days later and they had arrived back in Inuyasha's forest. It seemed that Inuyasha wanted ramen more than sleep, since they had barely stopped to rest the entire trip back. The whole group was looking rather ragged and they were all exceptionally relieved to spot Kaede's village in the distance. Kagome stopped by to chat with Kaede and Shippou for a bit before heading to the well for a much-deserved break from the shard hunt.

She closed her eyes and smiled as the soft blue lights encased her body, gently depositing her back into her own time. She was excited to see her family; she especially missed her little brother when she was gone for such a long time. He may be a brat sometimes, but she loved him anyway. He was already slightly taller than her and he was still growing. It still amazed her that this handsome young man was her baby brother.

She also knew that the annual festival at the shrine was coming up and she hoped that she hadn't missed it. She was fairly sure that it was this week, but time seemed to get away from her in the feudal era where clocks and calendars weren't everywhere. She had promised her grandfather that she would act as the shrine miko, since she was a living version, powers and all, but she was still balking at the idea of wearing the traditional robes. Even though she had matured in the last four years, it only seemed to make her look more like her aloof incarnation.

She climbed out of the well and ran to the house. She slid open the door and the enticing smell of... "ODEN!!!!!! You made oden!!! Oden, oden, oden!" Kagome began the oden chant under her breath even while she was greeting her family.

Her mother smiled, happy that her daughter was back safely once again. She even managed to remember to come back for the festival, something her grandfather would truly enjoy. "Kagome, go wash up and then we'll have dinner. The oden can wait that much longer at least." The oden chant began to fade as Kagome went upstairs to get ready for dinner. Kagome's mom shook her head, 'Really, that girl loves her oden. She must've gotten it from her father...' She smiled fondly, recalling happier times before her husband had passed away.

Kagome came back and they all sat down for a family dinner. She watched her brother and grandpa argue until her mother intervened. They all caught up on recent events until Kagome could hear her bed calling her name. It might be nice to be "one with nature" while camping out, but nothing could beat her comfy bed and extra thick blankets. She politely excused herself and went to get ready for bed.

Her mother came to tuck her in, a tradition that always occurred on the first night she returned home. They talked for a long time before Kagome couldn't keep her eyes open any more. Two hard days of traveling had really worn her down. Her mother kissed her forehead and then quietly left the room. Kagome sighed in bliss, it was certainly nice to be home.

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Yay, another chapter done! Like I said, this is my last update until after Christmas since I will be going home tomorrow. At least I didn't leave you with an evil cliffhanger! Next chapter will probably be Kagome meeting at least part of the YYH gang. My muse is still missing, so I'm not really sure what will happen.

Please review if you feel the desire to do so!


	13. A Day in the Present

My muse is thinking about returning, so even the Head Cold of Devastation can't keep me from writing!

**Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review! You rock!**

In respect to the Suuichi/Kurama/Youko mess and how I will refer to them:

1. In the past, I will always refer to him as Youko, as that is who he is in that time.

2. In the present, when I refer to Kurama, it will mean the "third" personality which is a blend of Suuichi and Youko. Suuichi is the human and Youko is the kitsune spirit, while Kurama is where the two start to overlap and the mediator between them. Rather confusing, I know.

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Hiei stood looking at the seeming normal well. He could not sense any power coming from it and it didn't even have any water in the bottom. So then, how in the hell did the miko jump in and simply disappear? It was a perplexing problem and it was wearing on Hiei's already thin patience. Something was going to have to die--soon.

--

Hiei had masked his aura and followed the miko and the kitsune after they left. He told himself he was waiting for the perfect opportunity for revenge, but in reality his curious side had decided to make itself known. He wanted to know how this strange miko had gained the loyalty of Youko Kurama. Even if she hadn't called him by name, it wasn't every day you ran into a silver kitsune, especially one that powerful.

As he watched the two of them play in the spring it became apparent that the kitsune was attracted to the miko. That, in itself, wasn't all that surprising--kitsune were by nature attracted to about anything. The truly amazing part was that Youko respected her enough to not take her by force, or more likely, just charm her into it. Kitsune were nearly irresistible when they really turned on the charm and they could convince the most unwilling person to change their mind.

He realized that Youko must truly care for this human although he was unsure in what capacity. When Youko had attacked in a demon rage, it had been fierce protectiveness shining in his eyes. The same protection one would give a mate, a family member or possibly a very close friend. So, under which category did the miko fall?

Hiei had followed them back to their village, something driving him to continue following them, even though he wasn't sure what it was. Had he known were they were going, he was certain the two day trip would have only taken him several hours at most. As it was, he had to admit that they made pretty good time for a bunch of humans, but they all looked rather ragged when they finally arrived. They disappeared into town and yet still he stayed. Some instinct was telling him to stay and his instincts were generally correct.

He had watched the miko wander back into the forest, alone, carrying her giant pack. 'Surely she's not going off on her own? Not even the hanyou could be stupid enough to let her wander alone. Doesn't she know there are dangerous demons lurking in the woods?' Hiei's smirk was sadistic, '_Very_ dangerous.' Yet here she was walking deeper into the forest, with all the other members of her group safely back in the village. 'Perhaps she lives near here,' Hiei rationalized. He decided to follow the strange girl to her house, merely to satisfy his curiosity, so he could be on his way.

He saw her walk into a clearing with what appeared to be a well in the middle. She walked directly to the well and began climbing over the edge. 'What is she doing? Perhaps I pushed her mind a little too far...' However, the girl looked calm, like she did this every day. Then, without further ado, the girl slipped over the side into the depths of the well. Hiei's keen ears heard neither a splash nor a crash, so either the well was extremely deep or the girl was stuck somewhere in the middle.

After a few minutes had passed and Hiei still had not heard any noise, he decided to investigate. He cautiously approached the lip of the well, expecting a trap. He was surprised to find a normal looking dry well only around fifteen feet deep. The miko was nowhere in sight. His curiosity prompted him to jump into the well, an action his more cautious side would have balked at. He landed softly on the bottom, no traps to be found. There were also no hidden passageways to be found yet there was no miko, either.

--

So, here he was, looking at a dry well and thoroughly confounded. The miko seemed to be able to get to him no matter what he tried. Even his Jagan had only sensed the miko's energy trail ending in the well. He figured it must be some sort of portal, but it's energy was so well masked that even his Jagan couldn't sense it. Although he was extremely tempted to stay until the miko returned and demand answers from her, he had a more important goal; he still had to track down Naraku.

Hiei let the bandanna for his Jagan float to the ground. He intended to use the Jagan to its fullest extent to track down Naraku. The sneaky bastard had managed to escape his wrath once--it wasn't a mistake Hiei was going to make again.

--

Kagome yawned and stretched luxuriously. 'That's the best night's sleep I've had in weeks. I love my bed!' She had just snuggled back down in the covers, content to get a few more hours sleep, when someone knocked on her door. She could hear her mother's voice.

"Kagome, are you awake? Don't forget that you need to go shopping today. You don't want to sleep the whole day away, do you?" Kagome groaned. In fact, she _would_ have been happy to sleep all day, but it looked like she had other plans.

"Ok, mama, I'm getting up. I'll be downstairs in a few minutes," she sleepily yelled back to her mom. Kagome took an extra long, extra hot shower. 'I love running water. Hot springs are nice... but I love you, shower!' Needless to say, being home always put Kagome in a good mood. She opened her closet, trying to find something to wear. "Skirts!" she squealed. She was quite fond of her skirts and had been rather disappointed when she decided not to wear them in the feudal era.

Her closet was full of skirts in all colors and varieties but all with one thing in common--they were all short. All of the exercise and training had given her a very nice body and she was not ashamed to show it off, discreetly of course. A nice pastel pink skirt caught her eye. It flared at the bottom and fell to just above her knees. 'Perfect for a day of shopping.' She chose a cute white blouse, pulled a brush through her hair and she was ready to go.

Although Kagome knew that she looked fairly good, she was patently unaware appreciative glances thrown her way. She happily went on her way, stocking up on ramen for Inuyasha and various other goodies for the rest of the group. She also made sure to buy lots of first aid supplies; by now the employees at the pharmacy she visited knew her by name. 'They must think I'm a walking disaster zone. Heh, they wouldn't be too far off, actually.' A picture of Kouga in his tornado popped into her mind. 'Yep, a disaster zone is pretty accurate,' she laughed.

She decided to head home. After the relative peace of the feudal era, the hustle and bustle of modern Tokyo wore her out. She dropped off all of her packages and grabbed a quick afternoon snack. Her long stays in the past had made her feel more at home in the woods than she did in her own house. Nothing could quite calm her soul as well as just sitting under a nice shade tree with the bright blue sky shining down on her.

Generally she would sit under the shrine's Goshinboku but today the shrine was busy with preparations for the upcoming festival. 'I guess I'll walk down to the park. It's just a bonus that I won't have to help with the festival setup.' She thought about rescuing Souta as well, but remembered that he was out with his girlfriend. 'Smart guy.' Kagome quickly and quietly made her way out of the house and down the steps. 'Freedom! Gramps will just have to make do on his own. At least I'm going to be performing in the festival for him.' She thought about her part of the festival and shook her head. 'The things I let that old geezer talk me into...'

Kagome was snapped out of her fond thoughts of her grandfather when she thought she felt the presence of a youkai. She stopped and concentrated but felt nothing else. 'I must be getting paranoid. Next thing I know I'll be carrying scrolls around like gramps, plastering everything.' She laughed and continued on to the park although she kept her senses alert, just in case. She arrived to find the park deserted, just like she had hoped it would be. She choose a nice looking tree, surrounded by soft grass. She sat down and leaned against the tree, watching the fluffy white clouds drift by. It certainly was the perfect afternoon to be lazy. Slowly Kagome drifted into a light slumber.

--

Koenmalooked over his desk at his Spirit Detective team. 'What a motley bunch. A Forbidden Child, a human inhabited by a kitsune spirit, a thug, and an oaf. How did these four manage to do anything at all, much less defeat some of their opponents?' He continued to ponder this until Yuusuke finally became annoyed.

"Hey, toddler, get on with it already! Why did you drag us out in the middle of the night this time?" Ok, so it was only seven o'clock, but Yuusuke always tended to over exaggerate everything.

"Yuusuke, how many times do I have to tell you before it finally penetrates your thick head: Don't call me toddler!" Koenma cleared his throat. "I had Botan bring you here because there is a dangerous youkai loose in Tokyo. It crossed the barriers earlier this evening and then we lost track of it. It will be your job to hunt it down. I suggest you split into two teams, since it will make covering Tokyo much easier. Each team will have a communicator to contact the others and myself on the first sign of anything suspicious. Now get going! Botan, open a portal."

By silent agreement Yuusuke and Kuwabara stepped through the portal. After it closed behind them, Botan opened another portal to a different part of Tokyo for Hiei and Kurama. They were all expecting a long night of searching. As soon as Hiei stepped out of the portal he removed the bandanna covering his Jagan. He scanned the surrounding area, hoping to catch the youkai's energy signature.

"Do you sense anything, Hiei?" Kurama asked calmly, hoping for a quick night so he could return to writing the paper for his history class.

"Hn," came the short reply. Kurama sighed, he knew that had Hiei sensed the demon they would already be heading in that direction. That meant much more searching on foot--even with youkai speed, Tokyo was a big place. He could only hope the other two would be luckier with their initial portal location.

--

Searing pain in her left hand brought Kagome back into the world of awareness. Several thoughts ran through her head as her barrier automatically snapped into place. The first, and loudest, was that this _really_ wasn't her week. The other three thoughts, almost simultaneous, were that there was a youkai standing over her in the middle of Tokyo, it was dark, and her left hand was pinned to the ground with a nasty looking knife through it. 'That's going to sting for a while,' she thought clinically.

She was well-rested, so her barrier was at full strength. Her miko was telling her that this youkai was powerful, but nothing she couldn't handle in the end. However, the youkai was looking rather pissed about her barrier. 'Guess he didn't know who he was dealing with,' she thought with a smirk.

"Miko," the youkai spat the word, "give me the jewel and I might spare your pathetic life." He flexed his claws in what Kagome assumed was supposed to be a threatening manner. After four years though, demands for the jewel had just become part of the routine. 'Why does every youkai offer to "spare my pathetic life" if I give them the jewel? Do they really think that I'm going to fall for that? Do they all read the same book, _Evil Demands 101_, or something? How about some originality?'

Kagome was knocked from her thoughts by the snarling demon in front of her. 'Oh yeah, back to the case at hand. Speaking of hands...' Kagome looked down at her left hand again. Her stomach rolled squeamishly. Even though the sight of blood no longer caused her undue duress, the sight of a knife through her hand was making her rather queasy. It appeared that by some miracle the youkai had missed all of the bones in her palm, instead the knife was only through her flesh.

She reached over and purified the blade, just in case any nasty poisons were trying to seep into her body. Then she grabbed the hilt of the knife with her right hand and pulled, hissing as the blade pulled back through her hand. She would not give the youkai the satisfaction of hearing her scream. Unknowingly, the youkai had given her a perfectly decent weapon. She concentrated more of her power into her palm and slowly stood up.

Perhaps she could get some information from this youkai before she killed him. She may not enjoy killing, but she knew her family would be in danger if she merely let him go. Plus, she had always wondered what had happened to the youkai between the past and the present. Except for a very limited number, Kagome had not seen any youkai in modern Tokyo.

"Why are you the only youkai that has come for the jewel?" she demanded.

"I was strong enough and smart enough to cross the barrier separating the Makai from the Ningenkai. When I arrived, I immediately sensed the power of the jewel nearby. I just waited for the perfect opportunity to attack." The youkai actually seemed rather proud of himself.

'Demon world? Human world? What is this guy talking about?' Kagome's thoughts were interrupted when the youkai apparently decided he was done talking. His first rush at her barrier was fairly useless, since once he made contact he jumped back, smoking. Kagome knew that her barrier would probably protect her, but that wasn't helping with her main goal of taking down the demon.

She didn't want to underestimate the demon, since the calculating look in his eyes was telling her he might be smarter than he let on. She really needed to get him close enough that she could either touch him or use her knife. Catching a youkai off-guard long enough to grab onto it is a very tricky business. Plus, she needed to stay alive long enough to purify him once she caught him. Although it was only a second or two between when she touched him and when he would be purified, that was still plenty of time for a clever youkai to do some damage and possibly escape all together.

Kagome went over her options. She could drop her barrier, thus getting him to attack, but she knew her reflexes were not fast enough to protect her. Thus, she had to make it _appear_ that she had dropped her barrier, while leaving it in place. The easiest way to accomplish this was to let her shiny pink barrier morph into the clear variety while simultaneously masking the energy the barrier radiated. It would take a good deal of concentration, but it was her best option.

--

Yuusuke kicked a can down the deserted road. They had been looking for almost an hour and hadn't found a single clue. Suddenly, Kuwabara perked up.

"Hey Urameshii, I'm getting a really bad feeling from over there," he pointed towards a park barely visible in the distance. While Kuwabara might not be the smartest guy on the team, his spirit awareness was extremely reliable.

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's go check it out!" Yuusuke was ready to kill the thing and go home already.

"Um, I'm not sure that's such a good idea Urameshii. It's not just a demon; there's something else there too, something I've never felt before. It's really powerful, though, whatever it is." Kuwabara didn't seem too eager to investigate further.

"Fine, whatever. You stay here and call the others and I'll go check it out." Yuusuke tossed him the communicator.

"Urameshii..." Kuwabara whined, "Whatever is over there is really strong, we should wait for Kurama and the shrimp."

Yuusuke smirked; he knew the perfect plan to get Kuwabara to come with him. "So, Kuwabara, you need Hiei here to protect you, huh?"

"What!?! No! I'm just saying..." he tapered off at Yuusuke's disbelieving look, "I'll go check it with you, you'll need all the help you can get," he mumbled under his breath, heading toward the park.

They arrived at the park to find nothing out of the ordinary. At least it seemed that way at first. Suddenly a pink bubble appeared further into the park. 'A pink... bubble...? What the hell is that thing? Is that the youkai?' Yuusuke wondered. He and Kuwabara cautiously headed in that direction.

--

Kagome was ready to begin her feint. She knew she would have to pull it off the first time because the youkai would never fall for it again. She dropped into an offensive crouch, changed her barrier over and hastily masked its energy. If the youkai was really paying attention, it would notice that the barrier was still there, since she didn't have time to do a proper job. She had a plan to distract him, however, by attacking first.

Kagome lunged for the youkai, barely slicing the edge of his arm. If the enraged snarl was anything to go by, she had definitely caught his attention. 'Good. Pay attention to me and not the fact that I still have my barrier.' The youkai's next move caught Kagome off guard. Apparently, this guy didn't go for finesse while fighting. He merely tackled her to the ground, finding out in the process that her barrier was still in place. Luckily, Kagome's reflexes kicked in while the youkai was still stunned and she wrapped her arms and legs around the youkai's body before he could escape.

She dumped a great deal of her energy out through her hands and body, trying to give the youkai as quick a death as possible. "I'm sorry, please forgive me," she whispered. She said a quick prayer for his soul as his body turned to dust in the pink glow of her power.

--

Hiei's Jagan flared to life as it registered the surge of energy from a few miles away. However, this energy didn't seem to be demon in nature and it almost seemed... familiar? Without a word he nodded to Kurama and they took off in the direction his Jagan was indicating.

--

Yuusuke and Kuwabara stood in awe as the youkai turned to dust in what appeared to be pink flames. They watched as the girl stood up and dusted herself off, looking at a trail of blood that had smeared up her arm and onto her clothes.

"Damn! That was my new favorite skirt too! Lousy youkai always trying to kill me..." she trailed off as she finally registered the two newcomers.

"Uh heh heh, bye!" She did the first thing that popped into her head: she ran.

------------------------------

Another chapter done! Next chapter is the festival and probably some more interaction with the YYH characters, depending on my muse.

Review if you feel the urge to do so, otherwise don't worry about it!

Happy New Year!


	14. The Festival

I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday!

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review!**

Please take a second to read the notes at the bottom of the chapter.

--------------------------------------

Yuusuke could only stare dumbly as the girl darted away. 'She kills a powerful demon with some sort of pink flame and then runs away from _us_?' Yuusuke snaps out of his shock, but by now the girl has disappeared.

"Hey, Kuwabara, can you track her energy?" Yuusuke asked hopefully.

"Sure, Urameshii, she is really powerful so it is easy to sense her energy. She is currently over there," he points, "and she appears to be moving away from us."

"Well don't just stand there! Come on, we have to follow her and you're better at tracking spirit energy than I am, so let's go!" Yuusuke started off in the direction Kuwabara had pointed. He was running at a gentle lope because he figured the girl really couldn't be that fast. She was a girl, after all, and he since he could easily outrun Keiko, he figured this wouldn't be much of a challenge.

"Uhh... Urameshii, she's gaining a lot of distance... too much more and she'll be out of my range." That statement was enough to put Yuusuke into full sprint mode. He knew if he lost this girl and Koenma found out about it, there would be hell to pay.

'Damn she's fast. She only had few minutes head start on us and she's already that far away. If she is almost out of Kuwabara's range that means she has to be nearing a mile in distance. We need Hiei if we're going to track her down.' He looked over to Kuwabara who was huffing and puffing but keeping up just fine. Truth be told, both he and Kuwabara liked to leave the running to the demons.

"Kuwabara, call Hiei and Kurama, tell them we need their speed to track down a girl... on second thought, tell them it's a suspect, leave out the fact that she's a girl..." Yuusuke could already feel the humiliation burning his face. "Outran by a girl... I hope Kurama and Hiei don't catch her either or I'll never live it down," he mumbled.

Before Kuwabara even had a chance to flip open the communicator a black blur they vaguely identified as Hiei raced past the pair. A few seconds later Kurama caught up to them, looking no more tired than if he was on a morning stroll. Yuusuke just grimaced at him causing him to smirk.

"Hiei has been tracking the youkai's energy, which is also how we found you. Did you guys actually see who it is that we are chasing?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah, we did, and it ain't a youkai. It's a girl who killed our loose youkai with pink flames and then ran off. She's fast too." Yuusuke wheezed. He slowed down, confident that Hiei alone would be sufficient to catch the girl.

"Did you say pink flames?" Kurama arched an eyebrow at Yuusuke while his mind was processing how that sounded familiar.

Suddenly Kuwabara stopped. "She's gone."

"Gone!? What do you mean gone? Did Hiei kill her!?" Yuusuke asked frantically, hoping the girl wasn't stupid enough to attack Hiei. If she was then that definitely explained why she was gone.

"I'm not sure, it's just that her energy disappeared all of a sudden. Maybe we should find Hiei..." Kuwabara trailed off, worried enough to use Hiei's given name instead of one of the friendly insults he usually used.

--

Hiei was closing in. Just a few more seconds, a minute at most, and he would catch whoever was emitting this strangely familiar energy. Whoever it was must be fairly stupid because they were running away in a straight line making tracking them just that much easier.

Hiei barely managed to keep from stumbling as the energy he was tracking disappeared entirely from his mind. 'Oh no you don't, bastard. You're not getting away until I figure out who you are.' Hiei sped up to frighteningly fast speeds. He would not be able to tell where he was going without the aid of the Jagan.

He assumed that since the person had been running away in a straight line, that if they had just masked their energy and not taken a portal, they would continue running in the same direction. That was his mistake.

--

Kagome knew she was outrunning the two young men that were following her. However, they did seem to be tracking her, which meant one or both of them could sense her energy. The shrine was almost directly north of her current location so instead of running straight back, she headed in a northeast direction. She planned to lead the men away from her home then mask her energy and double back.

It had been a good plan. Now, though, the rapid approach of two youkai meant a change in plans was required. It was difficult to track the two humans, even with their strange energy, since there were so many other people in Tokyo but the youkai were easy to track and stood out brightly to her miko senses. She wasn't positive, but it seemed like one of the youkai met up with the humans while the other one continued after her.

The other youkai was closing in quickly. Kagome had purposefully been running in a straight line and she hoped her plan would still work. She concentrated on completely masking her scent, since it was easy enough to do and run at the same time. She knew she only had a precious few seconds left, so she stopped and concentrated on masking her aura.

Masking her aura in the middle of Tokyo was much harder than in the Feudal era because of the lack of plant life. It was a fairly easy task to make your aura match that of the forest; it was somewhat more difficult to make it appear to be the aura of a random, non-distinct human.

Satisfied that she had masked both her scent and aura as well as she could, considering the circumstances, she ran the rest of the way down the block. She saw an opening approaching on her left. She ducked into it to find herself in a dark alley. Luckily she could see the next street, so it wasn't a dead-end. She ran down the alley and darted across the street into the next alley. Since she was now headed directly back home, she stopped to see what the youkai would do before leading him straight to her family.

She didn't have long to wait. She felt him stop and figured he had made it to where she had stopped to mask her aura. She could feel his power increasing and wondered why none of the people on the street noticed a change. A youkai this powerful in Tokyo was dangerous indeed. She knew that she would be hard pressed to take him on and win, even without his backup. With the addition of another youkai and two humans with strange energy, the odds were stacked against her.

Something was definitely familiar about the two youkai that had been following her and she wanted to try and sneak closer to catch a glimpse of them. Luckily her rational mind and her self-preservation decided to kick in and prevent such a stupid act. She slowly made her way back to the shrine, taking a meandering path that would hopefully confuse anyone still trying to track her energy. She felt the group she had been tracking disperse, but none of them moved toward her, so she was hoping that they had given up.

--

"What do you mean you lost her?!? You're the fastest one and she was not that far ahead of us. Plus you've got that creepy thing," Yuusuke pointed to the glowing eye implanted in Hiei's forehead, "to help you find people. So what happened?"

"Her energy signature ends here. That means that she either opened a portal, right here on the street, or she knows how to mask her aura well enough that the Jagan cannot sense it." Hiei glared at Yuusuke. "I certainly didn't see you catching her, Detective, even though you started close enough to see and hear her. How it is that you were outrun by a girl? A girl wearing a skirt, no less." Hiei smirked as Yuusuke's face flushed slightly.

"Shut up, Hiei," Yuusuke mumbled. "I'm going to go report this to Koenma, you are all free to go home. I'll let you know if anything else comes up."

The group split up, each member lost in his own thoughts.

Kuwabara was thinking of his love Yukina and how nice it would be to take her to the upcoming shrine festival. He had been afraid that she would turn him down, but she had just smiled beautifully and accepted. He wasn't even mad that she had invited Botan who had then invited Keiko, who had forced Yuusuke to promise to go.

Yuusuke then, seeing how badly he was outnumbered, had coerced Kurama into going, even though Kurama knew that he would more than likely get hooked up with Botan. He had tried to convince Hiei to go, therefore saving him from Botan, but Hiei had merely shrugged.

Kurama knew from the glint in his eyes that it meant "Yeah, I'll probably be there, but only for my own personal amusement and not to save your sorry ass from the Lady Death." Even knowing all of this, Kuwabara was still looking forward to the festival with his lovely Yukina.

--

Kurama was worried about Youko. The normally talkative fox hadn't said anything after Yuusuke had told them about the girl wielding pink flames. 'Youko, why are you so quiet all of a sudden?' Kurama asked.

Youko pondered how to best answer the question. Although he had shared much of his past with Suuichi, he had never mentioned the miko from the future he had met so long ago. He was wondering if it was possible that she really lived in this time and had been the one to kill the youkai. '_It's nothing Suuichi. I'm just thinking about a miko I once knew, long ago.'_

'A miko? One of those girls dressed in red and white that takes care of a shrine? She must have been special to stand out among the long line of women you've, _ah,_ known.' Kurama snickered at the mental scowl Youko sent him.

_'The mikos you are thinking of are mere shadows compared to the mikos of old. Now they are merely there for tradition's sake, no one remembers the true power of the mikos. The true mikos were no longer needed after the separation of the three worlds and so they slowly died out. Now, even if a girl is born with miko power no one would recognize it or be able to train her in the old arts.'_

'So what did mikos do before? And what does that have to do with pink flames?' Kurama asked, curious about the relation between the two.

'_Many, many years ago it was a miko's job to protect the people of her village, both from sickness and from attack. During the Feudal era, youkai ran loose and would have destroyed everything if it had not been for the mikos. You see a true miko does not sweep the shrine steps. She has a holy energy that allows her to purify youkai on contact. Most mikos would use arrows to channel their energy, firing Hama no Ya.'_

'Sacred arrows? You're telling me women went around shooting _arrows_ at youkai and they were the only thing standing between the youkai and the total decimation of their village?' Kurama sounded skeptical, even in his thoughts.

'_You do you not believe me.'_ It was not a question.

'Well, Youko, it is quite a story. I've seen many strange things since I became a spirit detective but women shooting pink flames is not one of them. Speaking of which, how do the flames relate?' It was always a good idea to distract Youko before he became pissed or started silently brooding.

Youko knew that Suuichi was merely trying to distract him and he allowed it to work, this time. '_The Hama no Ya were usually encased in a pink glow, the glow of the miko's energy. Few mikos ever progressed beyond this. Only a small number of very powerful mikos through history were able to channel their energy into other weapons or use their energy itself as a weapon. When a miko directly releases the energy stored in her body, it appears as if pink flames are surrounding her. However, even powerful mikos use this technique only as a last resort, since it drains such a large amount of their energy. An untrained miko using this attack could end up killing herself more quickly than her attacker.'_ '_As I almost found out,_' he thought quietly to himself.

'So basically the girl Yuusuke saw earlier was either an extremely powerful miko or an untrained miko randomly using her power? Even though mikos died out many years ago? Still, why would the youkai be after her in the first place?' Kurama mused.

'_I do not know, Suuichi, but I would talk to Hiei before talking to Koenma. He may find some more information.'_ Youko faded into the background before Suuichi could ask any more questions. He knew that Suuichi's interest had been captured and he would be less like to go straight to Koenma with the new information he had learned. After all, they both loved a good puzzle. '_Good luck, Hiei'_ was his last quiet thought.

--

Hiei smirked, so the fox had known that he was listening the entire time. He had merely planned on asking Youko if he thought a miko was responsible, but since he had entered in the middle of his explanation, he had decided to stay and listen in. 'Youko knows more than he is telling Suuichi. I wonder what it is that he is hiding?' Hiei was currently standing on top of the building where the girl's energy trail ended.

While he had not lied to the detective, he had not been completely honest either. The girl's energy trail _did_ end here and the Jagan could no longer sense anything. However, because the energy seemed familiar to Hiei, he was barely able to sense the path the girl had taken. It was mostly intuition and his years of practice tracking things that did not want to be found, but he was certain he could find the girl.

He hopped down, glad everyone had decided to go their own way. If he would have had to make the trip back to the Reikai the trail would have been too old to follow. He began to follow the trail, turning down a dark alley. 'Stupid girl. Too bad a thug didn't catch her. Would've made her easier to track at least.' He crossed the street into another alley. 'At least she will be easy to track, since she is once again moving in a straight line.'

Two hours later, Hiei was beginning to regret his rash assessment. He had lost her trail no less than a dozen times and would often pick it up going the wrong direction. Not to mention the girl was not heading in any general direction, giving him no clues about her final destination. Hiei grudgingly admitted that she was fairly good, but it also meant that she knew she was being tracked, ruling out an untrained miko. 'That means she has been trained, but by who? The mikos died out hundreds of years ago, so who has the knowledge and power to train her today?'

The trail finally ended at a long set of shrine steps. 'So she lives at a shrine, that would make more sense. Perhaps her family has kept the old traditions alive in secret, all of these years?' Hiei gingerly reached out, placing his hand over the shrine property, expecting a barrier since her trail was lost completely. He was vaguely surprised when his hand passed through unharmed except for the slightest tingling sensation.

He cautiously moved forward until he was standing on the first step of the staircase. Nothing happened. He took another cautious step. He began to notice the purity in the air. Everything was still and calm and the whole shrine seemingly hummed with purity. He was amazed that the pure aura was not harming him but instead seemed to leech the tension out of his body. He leapt up the rest of the stairs, strangely eager to know more about the shrine.

He looked around. The first thing he noticed was the giant tree in the middle of the grounds. Past the tree was what he assumed to be the house. It was dark and quiet, it's occupants sleeping peacefully, unaware of the danger that was currently lurking outside. He thought about breaking in but decided not to alert the miko to his presence. Although he did not fear her, a powerful miko was always an opponent to take seriously.

He continued wandering around the shrine, trying to discover why this shrine had such a holy aura. Even Genkai's shrine did not have such a calming affect on him, though she kept it well protected. It appeared that the shrine was preparing for a festival, since half-completed booths were scattered around. 'I wonder if this is the festival the fox was trying to get me to attend. This could be interesting, maybe I will attend, after all.' Hiei had much to ponder as he faded back into the shadows of the night.

--

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever had been bothering her miko had left. She couldn't tell if it was a youkai, although she assumed that it was. Something had woken her, a strange feeling on the shrine grounds. She had been stringing her bow when whatever it was faded away. She hoped, for her family's sake, that it was just a coincidence. She left her bow out and went back to bed, drifting into an uneasy sleep.

Someone was poking her, keeping her from getting the sleep she so richly deserved. "What do you want?" she whined.

"You never were much of a morning person, nee-chan. Glad to see that hasn't changed," Souta just smiled at her death glare. "I was wondering if you would like to spar this morning," he poked her with his wooden bokken again, "since all you've done so far is be lazy."

She groaned. She had not told her family about the youkai yesterday and she had been able to sneak in without anyone noticing her clothes. However, she had also been promising to spar with her brother for a very long time now. She had actually been the one to buy him the bokken he was currently using to poke her.

After he heard the stories she would tell about "Inu no nii-chan" he immediately started pestering her to train him. Since she didn't know anything about fighting, she had convinced their mother to sign him up for a martial arts class. He loved it. So, a year later, she had heard him complaining that he didn't have a bokken and he didn't want to ask for one since his mother was already paying for his classes. Kagome had taken her meager savings and bought two bokken, one for her and one for him, so they could train together when she was home. Unfortunately, with Kagome being gone so often, they had only trained a few times in the following years.

"Ok, Souta, let me get up and dressed and I'll meet you outside in thirty minutes. Ok?" He smiled and ran out of her room. He may be as tall as she was, but he would always be her little brother.

"Thirty minutes, nee-chan!" he yelled as he ran downstairs.

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled. She was actually quite happy that her brother wanted to spend some time with her, even if it was, she checked the clock, _seven in the morning_! "Souta, you little brat, you are so dead when I find you!" she yelled, but she got up anyway. She had always felt guilty about missing so much of her brother's life while she was in the past. He had grown up without her. Besides, if he showed potential then maybe she would feel better leaving, knowing he could protect their family.

Twenty-nine minutes later Kagome stepped outside, wearing a pair of light blue cotton pants and a darker blue sleeveless shirt. She was not expecting the wooden sword that was currently barreling toward her head. Her training kicked in and she reached up and grabbed the sword by the hilt before it could cause her brain some serious damage. "Souta...." her voice saccharine sweet, "run, you little brat!" She started chasing him, laughing and flailing the sword around in a way she was sure would have Sango cringing.

After she had extracted suitable revenge, they decided to spar for real. They moved further into the shrine grounds. That way they wouldn't have to worry about hitting the people helping to set-up for the festival and they wouldn't have to help with the set-up themselves. The annoying feeling Kagome had last night was back and she looked around surreptitiously. She didn't sense anything wrong, so she decided to not let it keep her from sparring with Souta.

"Alright, squirt, let's see what you've learned while I was gone." It had been over a year since she had last sparred with him, so she really was curious how much he had improved. They both turned serious and dropped into their respective starting positions; Souta in a traditional Kendo stance and Kagome in whatever it was Sango had drilled into her for so long. She may not have a name for it, but her body had memorized the positions and moves she needed to make it work.

Seeing that her brother was waiting on her to make the first move, she slowly thrust her sword towards the middle of his body. It was one of the easiest attacks to dodge or parry, but she didn't want to hurt her brother. She was only mildly surprised when he blocked the blow and launched a quick counterattack. As she dodged his blow, she laughed, "Souta, I do believe you were trying to hit me!"

He just gave her a bland look. "That _is_ the point, nee-chan," he said while continuing to attack. Kagome just danced away from his blows, only blocking when she had to. He was getting frustrated. "Nee-chan, take me seriously!"

"Oh, but I am, Souta," she said with serious eyes. "I know nothing about your style or your skill level, so I am merely evaluating your method of fighting. You should do the same when faced with an unknown opponent." As she said this she saw an opening and hit him firmly, yet gently, on the ribs. Souta looked down, ashamed.

"I'm sorry for doubting you, nee-chan. Let's start over." They both resumed their starting positions. This time Kagome attacked more forcefully, aiming for his weaker left side. He blocked her attack, as expected, but left himself open in the process. She attacked the opening and was slightly surprised when he barely managed to block.

She raised her eyebrows. "You've gotten pretty good, Souta." He smiled at her complement. They continued to spar for another hour, but it became obvious that Kagome was still much, much better than he was. She had been given more training and the instincts that she gained from fighting for her life could not be duplicated in a dojo. However, she gave him lots of pointers and he felt that the sparring had been very useful.

They decided to stop and go out for breakfast. They were hot and sweaty, but neither of them wanted to go back to the house to clean up because they would get drafted into working. Luckily there was a take-out place nearby and then they could go to the park to eat. They ran through the main part of the shrine, pretending not to hear their grandpa yelling at them. Once they reached the bottom of the steps, they both started laughing, until they heard their grandpa still yelling and getting closer. They looked at each other and took off again.

After they ate, they stayed in the park for most of the afternoon, talking and playing like children again. Kagome could almost forget the pain of duty and remember what it felt like to be free of responsibility. Plus she got to spend the entire day with her brother, who she found had turned into quite an intelligent man.

It was almost like an out-of-body experience; sitting here and talking to her brother, without a care in the world, just like she had so many years ago, before the whole Shikon no Tama fiasco. She once again felt a pang of sadness at everything she had missed in his life. She hugged him.

"What's wrong, nee-chan?" he asked, looking into her glistening eyes.

"Nothing, Souta. I'm just glad I got to spend the day with you. Why don't we head home, I'm sure the festival preparations are almost done by now," she winked and smiled.

"Ok," he stood up, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I'll race you! Last one there has to do the dishes!" He took off while Kagome was still sitting down.

"Hey, no fair Souta! Get back here!" Kagome took off after him, letting him win while making it appear that she wasn't just letting him win. Dinner was a quiet affair, except when Grandpa had scolded them for not helping with the preparations. Kagome and Souta had just looked at each other and then looked innocently at Grandpa, as if to say "We're sorry but we don't know what you are talking about."

After dinner Kagome did the dishes while Souta gloated in the living room. She decided that she should practice her archery because she had to do a demonstration tomorrow and hadn't practiced at all. She wasn't worried; archery had became second nature to her. She figured it was only because she was the reincarnate of a long line of mikos, but she was now deadly accurate with a bow and arrows.

She went upstairs and turned the light on in her room and grabbed her bow and arrows. She also turned on the porch light. She only needed to barely be able to see the target and that would be plenty of light. She pulled a practice target into the pool of light and measured her steps back to her position. Although she was standing in the dark, the target was well lit and easy to see. She strung her bow and tested the line. Perfect.

She mentally reminded herself not to let her energy seep into the arrows. Although she was not using specially purified arrows, it was such a natural occurrence to shoot Hama no Ya that it did not matter what she shot, her miko would automatically wrap it in energy. She drew an arrow and automatically dropped into the correct stance. She cleared her mind and concentrated on the target as the slowly drew back the arrow. She concentrated her gaze on the target, willing the arrow to hit where she wanted it.

For some reason when she practiced archery she was more open to her miko energy than any other time except meditation. It was because of this that at the very last second she swung her bow around and fired an arrow into the Goshinboku. Her miko had finally pinpointed the cause of her unease. "That was merely a warning shot. Come out, youkai, or next time you won't be so fortunate," she stated in a deadly calm voice.

--

Hiei grimaced. He had kept his youki masked but he knew that the girl was suspicious. Apparently she now knew his exact location. He had watched her this morning, sparring with her brother, and through the rest of the day. She was moderately skilled with a sword, even though he knew she had been holding back from her brother. He wondered how skilled she would be when she was fighting at full strength.

He also noticed that she was continuing to mask her energy, probably because she still felt uneasy. There was just something so _familiar_ about this woman. She reminded him of someone, far in his past, he just couldn't quite remember who it was. He watched her prepare to fire another arrow. 'I still have not talked to the fox. It is too dangerous to engage her in battle without knowing more about her.' Hiei jumped from the tree landing at the edge of the shrine steps and raced away into the deepening night.

--

Kagome sighed as once again the youkai disappeared. She briefly considered chasing him, but decided she should stay with her family in case it was merely a ploy to lure her away. She continued practicing for tomorrow, each arrow solidly hitting the target in exactly the right position. After thirty minutes she decided she was as good as she was going to get tonight and put the target away. She went to bed and dropped into the light sleep she used when they were on guard in the Feudal era.

Kagome awoke just as the sun was barely crossing the horizon. She knew she would need to be extra careful today and rose early to meditate. She went outside and sat under the Goshiboku. The tree always had a way of calming her spirit, allowing her to drop into meditation more easily. She called her energy, letting it slowly seep into the tree and the shrine grounds, searching for anything amiss. Nothing. While she meditated she was more open to sensing youki, so she scanned the surrounding area for any stray youkai. Nothing. She wasn't sure whether she should be happy or worried.

She re-masked her miko energy and the energy of the Shikon shards, masking them both against the Goshiboku. The tree almost seemed to have a living spirit and was very useful for masking energy. Only exceptionally powerful youkai or mikos would be able to sense that she was anything more than a normal human woman.

She slowly came out of her meditation. She noticed the sun was higher in the sky and people were starting to mill around, doing last-minute setup. She stood, stretching her muscles. She would go check the scrolls her grandpa liked to plaster on everything. He may not have any holy power, but it never kept him from trying.

Kagome had modified the scrolls he hung around the perimeter of the shrine. Instead of preventing any youkai from entering, which would also prevent Inuyasha from visiting, she had changed them to prevent youkai with evil auras or intentions. All youkai would be able to feel the purity in the air, but only those that attacked would feel the true power of the barrier.

Every time she visited she made sure to check on the scrolls and re-infuse them with energy. She was actually unsure if they would work at all, but she hoped they would never need to be tested. She could still feel energy radiating from the first scroll. Hopefully that meant that the youkai that had been on shrine property for the past two days did not intend to harm her or her family. All of the other scrolls were the same, which meant the barrier was still in place. She infused each of them with more power, just in case it would be needed today.

She headed back to the house intent on eating some lunch and then preparing for the festival. It wouldn't officially start until the middle of the afternoon, but she intended to be outside scanning the crowd much earlier. She stopped and smiled wistfully as she saw the neighborhood girls helping with the shrine dressed in red and white.

She remembered a time when she too would don the traditional miko robes without a care in the world. Now every time she had to wear them, she was reminded of Kikyo. It was not because she hated her—no, quite the opposite, actually. She felt only tremendous pity and sympathy for the poor woman. Kikyo had a very tragic history and Kagome couldn't help but wonder if she wouldn't be exactly the same if she was in Kikyo's place.

She had definitely hated Kikyo for a while, especially when she found that Inuyasha would never be able to love her for being Kagome, but instead, in some dark corner of his mind, because he thought of her as Kikyo. She had been returning the Feudal era for slightly over a year when it happened. She had come home crying her eyes out and vowing never to return.

It was a life-changing event for Kagome, her first serious crush and the heart-breaking disappointment that came when she realized it wasn't going to work. Of course, time heals all wounds and she began to realize that perhaps she hadn't loved Inuyasha as much as she had thought. She knew the pain would fade and eventually she would find someone to love her just as she was. So, two weeks later, she once again jumped into the well, back the Feudal era. She still felt a twinge in her heart every time she saw Inuyasha, but that too passed with time. Overall, their relationship had improved tremendously. They were almost as close as siblings, taking care of each other and watching each other's back.

Kagome was brought abruptly out of her thoughts by someone tugging on her hand. She looked down at one of the smaller girls dressed in red and white. "What is it, sweetheart?"

"Here, I got this flower for you because you looked so sad," the child help up a weed that vaguely resembled a flower.

She couldn't help but smile; it was just too adorable, the child standing there clutching the "flower" in her tiny little hands, smiling up at her.

Kagome carefully took the flower from the child and smiled at her. "Thank you sweetie, you've made me a lot happier. This flower is very beautiful, just like you," she smiled and winked at the child who laughed happily and ran back to the other girls.

Kagome continued toward the house. She stepped into the kitchen and found a vase to use for her flower. Although it wasn't very flower-like, it was the thought that counted and just seeing it reminded her of the happy little girl. She put the flower in water and fixed a light lunch. When she finished eating she put her plate in the sink and went to get ready.

--

"So Yuusuke didn't tell Koenma about the girl?" Hiei asked.

"No, he just told Koenma that the youkai was taken care of and apparently Koenma didn't feel the need to question him further, so Yuusuke didn't volunteer any information." Kurama paused, waiting to see if Hiei would say anything further. When he didn't, Kurama decided to change the topic. "So, Hiei, are you going with us to the festival?" Kurama tried not to let the pleading note slip into his voice, but if Hiei's expression was anything to go by, he had failed miserably.

"Hn. I believe I will go to keep an eye on Yukina. I won't let the miko harm her. I may stay around the perimeter, though." Hiei watched Kurama's face fall.

Kurama sighed. "Very well, Hiei. We should both get ready though, since we are supposed to meet the rest of the group in an hour," he said with a barely discernible grimace of distaste.

--

Kagome looked at herself in the mirror. Her mother really had done an outstanding job on her clothes. A miko stood staring back at her. With her hair back in the traditional style and the sorrow still lingering in her eyes, she looked almost exactly like Kikyo. She smiled, shattering the resemblance. 'I hope that you are happy, wherever you are, Kikyo.' Long ago and far away Kikyo paused, feeling a bit of warmth and happiness radiating from her soul. She smiled, 'Thank you, Kagome.'

--

Kagome wandered through the crowd, keeping her senses alert for any abnormal energy. She still had about half an hour until her archery demonstration and she was hoping everything would stay calm. 'Damn, I jinxed myself,' she thought ruefully as she felt the approach of two, possibly three, strong youkai. Since they were already on shrine property, she was hoping that it meant they were merely here for the festival. Her hand clutched more tightly around her bow as she moved in their direction.

She paused as she found herself staring at the two men that had chased her the other night. Today, however, they appeared to be here with their girlfriends, which hopefully meant they weren't a threat. The smaller girl with teal colored hair was definitely a youkai. The other two were harder to identify. The tall blue-haired girl was... something... but she wasn't emitting youki. Finally the guy with red hair definitely had youki, but he didn't really feel like a full-blooded youkai. 'A hanyou, perhaps? His aura doesn't feel the same as Inuyasha's either, though. He is one of the youkai that was chasing me the other night, why does his aura seem so familiar?'

--

Hiei tightened the grip on his katana as the miko approached his sister. He wouldn't flinch at killing her and going to the Reikai prisons for eternity if it meant that his sister would not die. The only thing holding him back was Youko's threat not to harm the girl. He wasn't sure why Youko was protecting her, but if she made one wrong move, he would kill her regardless of the consequences.

--

Kurama carefully watched the miko approach. Youko was bouncing around in his head, but he wouldn't reveal why he was so excited.

'_Let me out, Suiichi!'_ Youko demanded.

'Absolutely not. We are in the middle of a crowd of humans, not to mention on the property of a sacred shrine. Can't you feel the purity in the air?'

'_It won't bother me, just as it is not bothering Hiei or Yukina. Let me out!'_

'No! I will not continue to argue about this,' Kurama replied.

_'You will let me out, NOW!' _Youko yelled, letting his youki swirl violently in their system. They were both surprised at the shock they received. Not enough to truly harm them, but enough to get their attention. Youko tried an experiment. He raised his youki further, and was shocked more vigorously. When he reigned his youki back in, the shocking ceased. '_That's my girl_,' he thought quietly, '_you've built a fine barrier to protect your family.'_

They all watched as the miko paused in her approach with the sharp rise in Kurama's youki. She moved slightly into a defensive stance and moved her bow for faster access. 'I guess that answers the question of her training.' Kurama thought. They saw her relax slightly as Kurama's youki went back to normal levels.

Kurama looked over to the other members of the group, but none of them seemed to sense anything wrong. In fact, they didn't even seem to realize that this was the same girl they had been chasing the other night. 'It's for the best, I guess.'

--

Kagome sighed, happy that she wouldn't have to fight a youkai battle right here on the shrine steps. She continued to approach the group cautiously. She stopped about eight feet from the group, far enough away that she would have time to create a barrier and block most attacks. She eyed each group member carefully, but none of them seemed intent on harming her. She smiled and bowed slightly, "Welcome to Higurashi Shrine, please enjoy the festival."

She glanced around. The youkai that had been here last night had returned, but she was unable to pinpoint his exact location. She hoped he was the other youkai that had been chasing here and therefore was here with the rest of his group. His aura had seemed familiar too, but he was masking it well enough now that she couldn't really detect anything about it. 'I wonder why he was still in hiding, if the rest of his group is out in the open?' she pondered to herself.

"Kagome-chan, you grandfather is looking for her. It's almost time for you archery demonstration," her mother called to her from a short distance away.

"Ok, mama. I'll be right there." She bowed once more to the group before her and the turned to follow her mother to the impromptu archery range. Her grandpa had already set up the targets and quite a large crowd was gathered to see the show. Kagome was hit full-force by a case of nervousness. 'Calm down, Kagome, you can do this. Remember that big nasty, slimy, disgusting youkai you killed a couple months ago? If you can do that, then shooting arrows at an unmoving target will be a piece of cake.' Unfortunately, the little pep talk didn't seem to be helping.

She took deep breaths while her grandpa introduced her and called even more people over. She knew once she started, everything would be fine--it was just the wait that was killing her. Finally, she was given the signal to begin. She looked at the target. It was a tiny, filled-in circle about a quarter of an inch across, surrounded by a circle with a circumference of twenty inches.

She took a deep steadying breath as she drew an arrow. 'Remember, no energy.' She notched it and drew back the string slightly. Her miko absently noted that the youkai she had been tracking had joined his friends, confirming her theory, and they were all standing slightly to her left. She smoothly drew the arrow back and concentrated on the target. She let go and the arrow hit directly in the center of the small middle circle. A perfect shot. Now to just duplicate that a few dozen times and she would be golden.

She quickly drew another arrow, getting into the rhythm. The arrow flew true and the satisfying sound of splitting wood could be heard. Another perfect shot. She was so focused that she didn't even hear the applause of the crowd. She had purposefully fired her worst arrow first, knowing that she was going to split it. She had learned the hard way that while splitting arrows looks cool, it left one with no arrows and making arrows in the Feudal era sucked, even with Inuyasha to quickly cut the wood into smaller pieces.

She had found that shooting patterns was more difficult than shooting the center every time. Her body would naturally take a stance that would leave her aiming at the center, but to minutely adjust that stance for each shot required a great deal of skill. It was because of this that when she heard the crowd sigh when she hit the dead center top of the outside circle she just smiled.

She quickly fired three more arrows, one each at the bottom, left, and right sides of the outer circle. The crowd was finally catching on that she was "missing" on purpose. Now for the more difficult part. She had to put four arrows between each of the existing arrows on the outside ring, making sure they landed exactly on the line and were spaced the same distance apart. She fired the remaining arrows in her quiver. All of her shots were pretty good, within a few millimeters of their intended target.

Her grandpa turned the target so the crowd could see exactly what she had done. Now for the part she was dreading. She retrieved her next quiver of arrows and went ahead and drew the first arrow. Her mother came over and blindfolded her, while her grandpa was explaining what she was about to do. Souta, of course had to help as well and spun her around a few times, just for good measure. "Souta, you are _so_ dead when I get done with this. I should have let Gramps talk me into shooting that apple off of your head."

Souta just stuck his tongue out, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "Okay, Kagome. You are pointed directly at the target, it is in the same spot as the last one. Good luck." He moved back.

She sighed. 'I'm going to kill Gramps for talking me into this.' She took a deep breath and notched the arrow. She envisioned the target in her head and let the arrow fly. Judging by the lack of screaming, she had at least hit the target. The next arrow produced the sound of splitting wood. Well, so much for the easy ones. She fired the rest of her arrows, hoping that they at least sort of resembled a circle when she was done.

Once her last arrow was fired, she took off the blindfold, eager to see how she had done. Surprisingly, it didn't look much worse than her previous target. When Gramps held it up, the crowd erupted into applause. She smiled and bowed.

The crowd had dispersed, back to the main festival area and Kagome was walking around taking in the sights. The youkai were still on the property but had not caused any trouble so she she decided to leave them alone. Perhaps they really were here just to celebrate. She was glad her archery demonstration had went well, she had been slightly worried when her grandpa told her the plan.

Well, the second plan, at least. The first plan had involved Inuyasha and a recreation of the legend of the Shikon no Tama but she had adamantly refused, even though her grandpa really wanted it. He had even used the "Well, I am getting older now..." card. It was one issue she refused to budge on, so that is why she agreed to shoot blindfolded. Then, of course, he wanted her to shoot Hama no Ya and the argument started up all over again.

She was pulled from her thoughts by someone calling her name. She looked around. 'Oh no, please, please don't be who I think it is.' Sure enough, Houjou was making his way towards her. She tried to turn around and disappear into the crowds, but the wall of people behind her wouldn't budge. 'What have I done to deserve this?' she thought miserably.

"Higurashi, wait up!" Houjou called. He finally made his way over and immediately started blushing and stammering.

'Just get it over with already.' Kagome thought impatiently.

"Ah, Higurashi, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me... here... around the festival. Your grandpa said you weren't busy anymore so you could have fun now."

'Gramps is so dead. So dead! Okay, just think quickly.' Kagome sighed. "I'm sorry Houjou-kun, I'm busy." Well, she was lying through her teeth, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Ah, Higurashi, you don't seem to be doing anything..." Houjou trailed off.

Kagome reached around behind her and grabbed the first arm she felt, praying whoever it was would play along. "Well you see Houjou, my friend and I were just about to, umm... take down the archery range! Yes, that's it! So I'm really busy and I'll have to talk to you later. Bye!" Kagome stalked off, muttering under her breath about dense, stupid boys and their lack of ability to take a hint.

When she got to the archery range, well away from Houjou, she realized she was still dragging her poor victim along. "Hey, I'm sorry about that, if you need me to apologize to your date, I certainly will. I just really needed to get away from that guy." She turned around and caught the first glimpse of her savior. Her eyes widened and her breath caught as she pointed at him dumbly, "You! You can't be...."

---------------------------

Ah finally! I've been dreaming about this ending since around page six and now I'm on page sixteen. Yikes. There were so many other good cliffhanger opportunities in this chapter, but this is the one I really wanted.

Here's a question for all of you Mediaminer authors. How do you get Mediaminer to correctly recognize the number of pages? All of my chapters are showing up as one page and it's starting to bother me. Right now I'm using RTF format and I have a feeling that is the problem.

I'm going to go back and reformat the chapters (no content changes), so if you have email alerts turned on, you may get a lot of alert spam. Sorry about that.


	15. Reunions

Hello faithful readers! I'm sorry that I left you with such a terrible cliffhanger for so long, but I've been super busy for the past two weeks. The week before last I was sewing my cosplay costume for Ushicon (I went as Fuu from Samurai Champloo) and last week I was working super long hours. Oh well, the wait is finally over!

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review!**

-

"YOUKO!" Kagome yelled while launching herself at the kitsune currently standing and smiling nonchalantly at her. Suddenly she paused, a hair's breath from her intended target. She frowned. Something was wrong with his aura.

-

While Kagome had been busy muttering under her breath, Youko had used Kurama's surprise against him. While Kurama had been off guard, Youko had taken control of the body, using very little youki so he wouldn't alert the miko currently dragging him by the arm. He also didn't need to be reminded of the barrier protecting the shrine. Suuichi was ranting and raving in the background, but Youko paid him no mind. After all, he hadn't seen Kagome in nearly five hundred years and it just so happened that she had drug him away from an intensely boring conversation with Lady Death, so he would be forever grateful to her.

-

Whoever this youkai was, they were extremely skilled at illusions. The person standing in front of her looked exactly like Youko Kurama and his aura was almost the same too. It was just a brush of something foreign in his aura that alerted Kagome to the fact that this was not the Youko she knew in the past.

Kagome quickly jumped back, drawing an arrow as she did so. She was glad she decided to retrieve her arrows after her demonstration, especially with all of the strange youkai running loose on the shrine grounds. Her energy began to flow into the arrow, causing it to glow a faint pink. "Who are you, impostor? Why do you look like Youko and what are you doing here?"

The youkai in front of her just smiled. "Very good, Kagome. I see your skills are improving more every day." His eyes suddenly snapped to the side, looking at some unforeseen danger.

Kagome felt it. A powerful youkai was approaching quickly from her left. She barely had time to bring up a shaky shield before she felt a blade glide along the edge of her barrier. She sighed in relief, glad to have survived yet another random youkai attack in her era; an era that was supposed to be safe. Her relief was short-lived however, as she saw her beloved bow fall into pieces at her feet. Although her barrier had protected her body, her bow had been outside of its protective range.

She stared in shock at the wooden splinters at her feet. The bow had been a gift from her grandfather, one of the only relics he had given her that she truly treasured. It had supposedly been passed down in their family for generations, each new miko using it as her own. She often wondered if perhaps Kikyo had used this same bow, back in the Feudal Era. Although the bow was exceptionally old, Kagome thought that it must have been carved from the Goshinboku or another of the "time trees" since it was still as durable and flexible as a new bow.

Finally, the meaning of the shards of wood sunk in. Her aura fluctuated wildly as she tried to decide between rage and despair. 'At least if the damn youkai had cut my body I could have healed it,' she thought angrily. Her eyes shimmered in the dim light, filled with tears that she was too proud to shed. However, the sheen of tears was slowly being burned away by the flames of rage igniting in her soul. The energy that permeated the shrine, her energy, began to pulse, growing more menacing as her rage built. The humans would not notice any change, but the youkai were all extremely aware of the energy shift.

Kagome slowly raised her eyes. She saw the Youko impostor grimacing slightly at the feel of miko power in the air. It was an expression so patently Youko that she almost changed her mind about his identity. She continued to look around for the mysterious youkai that had attacked her. What she saw caused her rage to deflate around her. The energy in the air dispersed and her chin trembled as her tears silently began running down her face. "Hiei, how could you?"

-

Hiei was dumbfounded. How did this woman know his name, and why did that particular expression call up forgotten memories of a miko long ago? He watched as she knelt and tried to pick up the pile of wood that now more closely resembled kindling than a bow. He knew the exact moment that she found out just how impossible her task was, because the silent tears became poorly muffled sobs.

Hiei was experiencing an uncomfortable feeling in the area near his heart. His heart was whispering to him, telling him that this miko did not deserve to cry such tears. He had a compelling urge to move Heaven and Hell just to make her smile again. Hiei scoffed. 'Since when do I care about the emotional state of a human miko?' Still, the annoying feeling persisted. Hiei thoughtfully strummed his fingers on the hilt of his katana. 'Perhaps...'

'_Hiei, if you so much as think about harming her in any way, it will be your last mistake._' Youko's icy voice rumbled threateningly in Hiei's head.

From the look on his face, Hiei knew that Youko was deadly serious. Right now, Youko was every bit the vicious thief and killer his reputation made him out to be. Hiei had known Youko for a very long time and their relationship had always been rather strained and awkward. Even though Hiei and Kurama were good friends, Hiei often got the feeling that Youko was still holding a grudge against him; though, for what, he didn't know.

Deciding that being alive was a requirement to figuring out why Youko was so protective of this girl, Hiei barely nodded his head in acknowledgment and removed his hand from his katana. He watched in awe as the icy expression slid from Youko's face as soon as he looked down at the crying girl. He had never seen Youko look quite so... concerned... before.

Hiei looked at the girl again. She did remind him of someone he had met long ago, but the memories were faded and hazy. However, those memories had to have taken place more than five hundred years ago, and even an incredibly powerful miko would not live that long. Since she was obviously not mated to a youkai, that meant she must be a reincarnate of someone from long ago. It still didn't quite add up, though, since the girl knew both Youko and himself on sight.

Kagome's energy flared slightly as the impostor took a step forward. She may not have her bow, but she certainly wasn't defenseless. The fact that Hiei was here, and had exactly the same aura, except a good deal more powerful, was a sign that this possibly was the real Youko. That still didn't make her a believer, especially after Hiei just decimated her family heirloom. 'Why does he always try to kill me? What did I ever do to him?' Kagome wondered.

She watched the Youko lookalike smirk and take another step forward. She dried her eyes and stood, lifting her chin. "Whether or not you look like Youko Kurama, take another step and you will receive a very nasty shock. Continue anyway and I will purify you to dust. Do you understand?" Her heart quailed at the idea of purifying her friend, but she would protect herself, her family, and the Shikon-no matter what.

"Kagome, I am glad you noticed the difference in my aura, but I assure you that I truly am the legendary thief, Youko Kurama."

"You did manage to copy his enormous ego..." she just smiled sweetly at his frown, "but that still doesn't explain how your aura has changed."

"It's a long story, one that I do not feel like explaining out here in the dark. We can go inside and I'll tell you the story from the beginning, or you will just have to trust me," he smiled.

Kagome laughed. "Trust you? Your friend here, who I happen to _know_ is a criminal, just attacked me, taking out my only weapon. Now you want me to invite you into my home, so we can talk about your life? Would you like me to make some tea, too!" She sent a warning glare his way when it looked like he was about to answer in the affirmative. "Unless you can definitively prove to me in the next sixty seconds that you really are Youko Kurama, I suggest you leave before I decide to purify you for the fun of it." She mentally crossed her fingers. She would not purify anyone "for the fun of it" but, hey, threats couldn't hurt.

"Very well, Kagome. I will prove to you that I really am Youko Kurama. However," he had a very sly look in his eyes, "you must drop your barrier for me to do it. I swear upon my honor that I will not harm you, nor allow anyone else," he glared at Hiei, "to harm you during this time. Do you agree?"

Kagome stared at him for a long time. Her heart really, really wanted to believe that this was indeed Youko. Her mind was quite a bit more skeptical, though. Finally, she nodded slowly. She had been practicing a new barrier anyway, and now would be as good a time as any to try it out. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the energy surrounding her body, willing it to condense just under her skin.

After five minutes, her skin was still glowing pink, but it was as close as it was getting. Now, if she was attacked, the attack would only barely break the skin before hitting her barrier. Plus, she could touch youkai without hurting them, since her skin acted as an insulator against her holy energy. She wanted to eventually get to the point where she would wear this type of barrier at all times, but right now it still required too much energy and concentration to hold for more than a few minutes. "My energy is just under my skin, thus protecting me from fatal attacks, but allowing you to touch me without danger. Well, without danger from my barrier..." she smirked. She had never promised that she wouldn't hurt _him_.

-

He saw that she was watching him warily as he approached. He had a brilliant plan in mind, one that would allow him to get some revenge on Hiei for making Kagome cry yet again. "Kagome, do you remember the first time we met?" She nodded slowly, obviously not liking the direction the conversation was heading. "Good," he flashed her a fanged grin before he quickly pulled her against him and silenced her protest with his mouth.

Kagome moaned slightly and willingly opened her mouth. She may not have had romantic feelings for him, but damn if he couldn't kiss.

-

Hiei was seeing red. He was even angrier because he did not know why seeing Youko kiss that human made him angry in the first place. All he knew was that he had to leave, NOW, or he was going to do something he might regret-he looked over to see the girl rubbing Youko's ears-or might not. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to leave the property and instead took refuge in the branches of the Goshinboku. His youki was swirling wildly around him, and he was constantly being shocked by the holy energy in the air. Nothing, however, could erase the image of the miko in Youko's arms.

-

Youko slowly pulled away, looking fondly down at the dazed miko in his arms. "Then, when I kissed you, I gave you this," he held up his mother's bracelet. Kagome looked down at her wrist, as if the bracelet would still be there. 'I didn't even feel him remove it, just like I didn't feel him give it to me in the first place,' she thought in awe. "This was my mother's bracelet, her favorite piece of jewelry. It was given to her by my father when they were courting. There, do you believe that I am really Youko now?" He clasped the bracelet around her wrist.

Kagome nodded. "Now you have to explain why your aura is different."

Youko sighed. "We should go inside and sit down, because it will be a long story."

"Ok, follow me. Hey, whatever happened to Hiei?" Kagome looked around for the spiky haired youkai, and finally felt his aura in the Goshinboku. 'What it is with youkai and trees, hmm?'

"I'm sure he got bored and left, once there was no more destruction to be had." Youko mentally smirked, knowing exactly why the fire demon had left, even if Hiei himself did not know.

Youko and Kagome went inside where Youko explained all that had happened to him in the last five hundred years. He explained that his aura was different because he and Suuichi shared the same human body. Kagome finally got to meet the red-haired Kurama and was not surprised to see that it was the young man that had arrived with the large group Kagome had confronted earlier. Kurama left after midnight, promising to come by and visit tomorrow as well.

After Kurama left, Kagome went to get what was left of her bow. She took a broom and a plastic bin and carefully swept all of the pieces into the bin. It would never be a bow again, but it was still an heirloom of sorts and should be treated with respect, not left to the weather. By the time she was finished, Kagome was severely regretting her lack of coat. The nights were getting colder and the short sleeved shirt she was wearing was definitely not cold weather gear. She finally found all of the pieces of wood and retreated back into the house to thaw out.

-

Hiei watched the girl carefully sweep up the pieces of her bow. He had heard her telling Kurama about it, and he was actually feeling rather ashamed that he had destroyed such an old family heirloom. He blamed it on the fact that visions of the girl's crying face had been making him feel uncomfortable for the past few hours. He still did not know why she was having such an affect on him, but he was determined to figure it out.

-

Kagome wearily climbed the stairs, not really surprised at how much energy she had spent during the evening. She got ready for bed and just as her head hit the pillow she noticed that Hiei's youki was still inhabiting the tree outside her window. She was about to go to sleep anyway when her conscience decided to give her a kick. After all, it was getting rather cold out there and the poor guy probably had not had anything to eat all night.

'Wait. I don't care. He attacked me. He destroyed my bow. He has previously attacked me with the intention of doing me serious harm. Let him freeze. And starve.' Even as the thought was running through her head, Kagome was climbing back out of her warm cocoon. 'Blasted conscience,' she grumbled mentally, 'always making me work.' She went downstairs and retrieved a sandwich and a piece of chocolate cake from the fridge. She scrounged around the linen closet and found an extra blanket.

She went back up to her room. She might be worried about him, but that didn't mean that _she_ was going to go back out in the cold. If he wanted this stuff, he'd have to come get it. She slid open her window, shivering slightly as the cold air cut through her flimsy pajamas. "Hiei-san, I know you are out there. Are you cold? I brought you a blanket and a sandwich. Oh, and a piece of chocolate cake. Do you want any of it? Hiei? Hello? Huh, his aura is gone, I must've scared him off or something." She shut the window and turned around, only to scream at the top of her voice; or, rather, she would have if Hiei had not clamped a hand firmly over her mouth.

"Woman, do you want to wake the dead? I thought you invited me in. Where's the cake?" Hiei noticed that her eyes were large and frightened and she appeared to be quite jumpy around him. "Why are you afraid of me? It couldn't be because I'm a youkai, since you seemed to like Youko well enough," he couldn't keep the hint of disgust out of his voice.

"Ah, I'm sorry Hiei-san. It's just that you've attack... err.. I've been attacked several times in the past few weeks and it's made me rather jumpy. Youko and I are close friends, but nothing more. He was kissing me to prove to me who he was, since he kissed me the first time we met, also. Why, jealous?" She arched an eyebrow and smirked at him to show that she was only teasing.

"Hn." Hiei spotted the cake on the nightstand behind Kagome and went to grab it. He paused though, when she flinched away from him and her pink energy barrier sprung into place. He wasn't sure why, but that weird feeling near his heart was back in full force.

"Sorry, bad habit," she mumbled while keeping her eyes averted. She picked up the sandwich and handed it to him. "You should eat, I'm sure you are hungry."

He just glared at her. "Cake."

"Cake?"

"Give me the cake." Stupid humans and their need to over communicate.

She frowned at him. "You don't want to eat the sandwich first? It's good, I made it myself." As the beginnings of a scowl appeared on his face, she gave up and handed over the piece of cake. At least she had cut a fairly large piece. She watched as the cake was basically inhaled off of the plate. "Since you are staying in the Goshinboku anyway, you might as well stay in here where it is warm."

She wasn't sure who was more surprised-her or Hiei. 'Where the heck do these things come from? First I invite him into the group right after he had attacked me. Now I am inviting him into my room, again, right after he has attacked me. What's next, he attacks me and I invite him to bed?' Kagome thought exasperatedly. The thought did cause her to giggle, though, then immediately blush as she remembered the dream she had after she passed out in his cave.

"Hn." Hiei watched her giggle and then blush. It was times like these that he wondered how humans had survived as long as they had. He did raise an eyebrow as her scent slightly spiked, causing her to blush harder and then smell exactly normal. 'She knows how to mask her scent, I see, but what would she be thinking about that would require it? If it's that damn fox again...' Hiei tried to get a glimpse into her mind, but was annoyed to find well-constructed, solid barriers barring his path. He was brought out of his thoughts when the girl started talking again.

"Very well. I must warn you that the rest of the house is protected by scrolls and miko energy. The only way for you to leave this room is through the window. It's not that I don't trust you... but well... I don't trust you, or most other youkai for that matter. There's a blanket there that you are welcome to use. Would you like a pillow or anything else?" Hiei just stared at her. "Ok, well, goodnight, I guess." She turned out the light and laid down. She cast her clear barrier, just as a precaution. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she didn't relish the idea of waking up dead, either. She finally drifted off into a light sleep.

-

Hiei watched the girl lay down and cast a barrier. He might not be able to see it, but he could still sense it. 'At least she had some self-preservation instinct, minimal though it may be. Why does this female seem so familiar to me and what did she mean about me attacking her in the last few weeks? I haven't attacked anyone but youkai for over a month.' He leaned against the wall and watched the girl as she slowly drifted off to sleep, trying to figure out the puzzle she posed.

-

Kagome yawned and stretched. She had slept really well, and all of the worry and stress from yesterday were gone. 'Wait.' Her eyes popped open. "Hiei, are you still here?" She let out a relieved sigh as silence was her only answer. She sat up and slowly looked around, making sure he really was gone. The fact that he was gone did not surprise her, but the bow in the corner of her room did. It was slightly larger than her previous bow and made out of some strange dark material. It was intricately carved and the string was also made out of a material Kagome could not identify. She carefully picked the bow up and was surprised at how light it was. She couldn't wait to try it out. "Thank you, Hiei. I guess that you're not so bad after all."

-

Yay, another chapter down! Once again, sorry for the horribly long wait, I'll try to update faster again, but I can't promise anything. :)

Why does Youko remember Kagome and Hiei doesn't?

Well, Youko has known Kagome for a long time already in the past, and she has just met Hiei. Plus, Youko helped her train her powers and they spent a solid month together. You never know what will happen in the future, but maybe Hiei doesn't get to spend that much time with her in the past... bum bum BUM! You'll just have to wait and see... ;)

Oh, I still plan to update the previous chapters with a new format, so if you have alerts turned on, you may get spammed.

Please review if you feel like it.


	16. Close Calls

Well, I'm back. Sort of. I will definitely finish this story, but it may take longer than I was planning. Here are my excuses... er... reasons. :)

A list of things currently distracting me from writing:

1. Buying a house

2. Wedding planning

3. Work

I'll try to get back into the habit of updating weekly (umm... bi-weekly? semi-monthly?), but no promises. :)

**This chapter is lightly citrus scented in a couple paragraphs. Please respect the rating and my wishes and do not read this story if you are underage.**

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Kurama glanced over to his black-clad friend who was currently occupying the windowsill of his apartment. He could tell Hiei was seething mad, even though he appeared to be his normal stoic self. He wondered if whatever had put him in such a foul temper had managed to escape with its life. 'Probably not,' he mused as he followed Hiei's gaze to his currently smoldering carpet. 'Maybe I should distract him before he burns the place down.' He watched at the carpet continued to smoke lightly.

"So Hiei, how was your evening last night?" Although the words came out of Suuichi's mouth, they definitely belonged to Youko, the sly undertone a dead giveaway. Kurama cringed as the eyes that were previously burning his carpet were directed full force at him. The reaction out of the fire youkai was very revealing in itself and he wondered how Youko had known exactly what to say to cause such a reaction.

-- --

Hiei glared at his friend. He knew that Youko was behind the simple words, but he wondered how much exactly the sly fox knew or if it was just a lucky guess. As he thought back over the events of the morning, his confusion only fueled his anger further.

-- --

It was two in the morning and Hiei was still standing in the corner where the girl had left him. He watched her sleep, her form bathed in the moonlight streaming through the window. 'What is it about this human?' Hiei thought irritably. The longer he was around her, the stronger the sense of deja vu became. Just watching her sleep in the moonlight was stirring memories long forgotten.

He knew she was sleeping lightly, her shallow breathing a testimony to fact that even in sleep she was on guard. 'Why would a human need to sleep on guard? And why is she able to wield miko powers? All of the mikos were said to have been killed many years ago. This girl is full of surprises. She would make a dangerous enemy.'

Hiei watched as her body tensed slightly as she shifted on the bed. The move caused the sheet to slip off her body, exposing a vast expanse of flawless skin to Hiei's gaze. Her pajama pants were sitting dangerously low on her hips and her shirt had bunched up just under her breasts.

He saw the muscles in the flat plane of her stomach tense as she shifted again, a soft sigh escaping from her lips. The strangely erotic sight of her skin glowing in the moonlight was affecting Hiei more than he cared to admit. Without conscious thought, he silently crept closer to the bed. The girl moaned slightly as her hand came up to rest on the skin above her ribs, rubbing lightly before falling still. She shifted again, her body seeking for something it could not find. 'The girl is... aroused?' Hiei thought, finally understanding what his body had known all along. Even without being able to smell anything different about her scent, he knew instinctively that she was having a very pleasant dream.

Her breathing sped up and her moans became more frequent, though still whisper quiet. The highly erotic sound stuck Hiei to the core as his mind wove elaborate fantasies to match the sounds she was emitting. His eyes went completely red as the image of her lying nude in the forest on his cloak flashed before his eyes. She was blushing and smiling as she opened her arms to him. He groaned as the fantasy continued and he felt himself sinking slowly into her hot, pliant body. The image changed. He was pounding into her as she was braced against a tree. He could feel her nails scrape down his back as she screamed his name, her body tightening and convulsing with her release.

Hiei's eyes blazed a deeper red as his youkai instincts awoke. He glanced over the to miko who was still moving restlessly on the bed. 'Mine!' his instincts were screaming, demanding release from the arousal currently burning in his system. He moved closer, reaching out to touch her tempting flesh when he was shocked by the forgotten barrier protecting her. The small jolt was enough to allow his more rational senses to take over and he threw himself out the window into the darkness of the night.

Hiei knew that he would need to release some of the energy currently swirling violently through his system. Luckily arousal and blood lust share many of the same attributes, and one is easily converted into the other. A sinister smirk slid across his face as he stepped through a portal into the Makai.

It had been two hours since he stepped into the Makai and both his body and his sword were coated in the blood of dozens of youkai. His darker side preferred messy kills to the normally swift death he dealt and the stench of blood and death surrounded him. He had finally worked out most of his aggression and his normally stoic facade was slowly falling back into place. Only one more opponent and he would be satisfied and head back to the human world.

Hiei didn't have to wait long. He could feel a youkai approaching, drawn to the scent of blood that hung thickly in the air. He watched with calculating eyes as the female youkai stepped into the clearing. She was a lower lizard youkai if her appearance was accurate--her body was covered in green scales. However, the thing that most intrigued Hiei was the bow slung across her back. Most youkai preferred swords or their claws, very few chose to use long range weapons such as a bow.

He stood indifferently as she removed the bow and slowly drew an arrow from her quiver. Thoughts of a certain miko doing the same thing flashed before his eyes. He cleared his mind, knowing better than to underestimate an unknown opponent. As he watched the arrow arc toward his position, his mind was carefully running through all of the possible scenarios. Surely this youkai would not just use a plain bow and arrow and think to defeat him? Was it poisoned? Did it explode? Was it magical?

At the last second Hiei stepped to the side and brought his sword up to slice the arrow in half. He was somewhat surprised when the arrow split neatly in two and fell harmlessly to the ground. He rushed the youkai, intending to slice through both her and her bow in one fell strike and be done with this weak opponent. His plans changed, however, when his blade was deflected by the bow. He raised an eyebrow, 'Interesting.'

However, even with the added protection of her bow, the youkai was no match for his speed and skill. It only took a few short minutes before the youkai woman was nothing more than a puddle of flesh, staining the ground of the clearing. He looked at the bow that was still undamaged, even after several direct strikes from his sword. It actually appeared that his katana had taken more damage than the bow, even though Hiei had personally made the blade of the strongest material he could find in all three realms. 'Yes, very interesting indeed.'

-- --

"I gave her a bow." Hiei said shortly, breaking the long silence that had fallen between himself and Kurama.

Kurama started at the sound, lost deep in his own thoughts. He immediately knew that Hiei was referring to Kagome, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why Youko was laughing his head off. "Well that's good. You did destroy her previous bow, after all." Hiei merely glared. "What?" Kurama asked defensively, Youko's continued laughter setting him on edge.

Youko decided to join in the fun. '_Tell me Hiei, did this bow belong to a youkai you killed, perhaps?_' he asked between chuckles. Hiei merely nodded curtly. He knew the exact moment the fox figured it out, by the way his eyes lit up and a patently Youko smirk pulled at Kurama's lips. He wasn't surprised, however, when the fox decided to drag it out, '_I see. So, did you happen to give her the bow while you were in your demon form?_'

Hiei glared murderously at the fox, furious that he had said anything at all. '_So... you're courting then?_' Kurama only barely dodged the vicious punch Hiei threw at him. He had only managed to dodge because Youko had warned him to move before Hiei even began his swing. "What the hell was that for!" Kurama yelled, losing his cool facade for a moment as he felt totally confused by this whole conversation.

"I would never court a weak ningen," Hiei replied coldly, ignoring Kurama's outburst.

"What's going on here?" Kurama demanded, tired of being left out of the conversation. '_Allow me to explain,' Youko broke in smoothly. 'When a youkai in full demon form gives a gift he or she won in battle to someone, it means that the youkai would like to begin courting the person who receives the gift. It is an ancient tradition, dating back to the beginnings of youkai society, but it is still used today. So, because Hiei was in full youkai form and gave Kagome a bow that he won in battle, it effectively means that he intends to court her._'

Hiei scoffed. "It is a stupid tradition. I don't even _like_ humans. I would never lower myself to courting one." Kagome's cheerful smile flashed before his eyes and he felt that same strange twinge in the region his heart occupied.

Youko's sly smile was back. '_Good. That means you won't mind if I give her a gift of my own..._' Youko was not able to finish the sentence before Hiei attacked, his fist squeezing the air from Kurama's throat. "You will not touch what is MINE!" Hiei hissed, his blood red eyes flashing brightly, proving just how close to transforming he was.

Youko knew he was treading dangerous ground, but he couldn't resist one last barb, '_Didn't you just say you would never lower yourself to courting a human? You can't have it both ways, you either are courting her or you are not courting her. Which will it be, because if you are not..._' Youko licked his lips in anticipation.

Hiei was trapped. He could deny that the bow was a courting gift to Kagome, but that would mean the fox would try to make a move on her. 'Over my dead body,' he thought as his eyes flashed and his hand reflexively tightened around Kurama's neck. Or he could acknowledge that it was indeed a courting gift and... 'And what? Acknowledge that I am courting a human? Never!' So Hiei chose neither. "Just stay away from her, fox." He released Kurama and turned away before he could see the slight frown pulling at Kurama's brow.

Before the conversation could go any further, they both felt a huge spike in miko energy a few miles away. There could only be one person with that kind of power... "Kagome!" they both yelled as they left their differences behind to race towards the Higurashi shrine.

-- --

Kagome should have seen it coming. After all, such a perfect morning was never meant to last. She had gotten up, sparred with her brother and practiced with her new bow. The bow was the most exquisite thing she had ever seen and she still had no idea what material it was crafted from. It was light, perfectly balanced, and deadly accurate. Then she laid in the sun by the Goshinboku, just letting the peace of the shrine sooth her battered soul. Yes, she really should have seen it coming. At least she was the only one home.

She was still lying in the sun when she first noticed something off about the air. It was a little less clean, less pure than it should have been. She couldn't sense any youkai or anything else out of the ordinary so she was just about to write it off as nothing when a shadow fell over her body. Her training kicked in and she narrowly avoided being squished by a huge club.

She crouched in a defensive stance trying to get a feel for her opponent. The only problem was that she couldn't sense anything at all. It was like he wasn't even standing there, holding a six foot club. Sango's voice rang in her mind, "You can't always depend on your miko senses. Use your eyes and ears to size up your enemy. Look for weak spots in their attack or defense. Careful observation can easily save your life."

So Kagome did just that, she looked at the _thing_ standing across from her. It looked like a troll or perhaps an ogre and it was easily over ten feet tall. It had blotched grey skin and one large eye in the middle of its forehead. She was going to go out on a limb and say _it_ was actually a _he_.

When he spoke, his gravelly voice rumbled the very earth beneath her feet. "Give me the Shikon no Tama, miko, and I will grant you a swift death. Resist and you will die slowly and painfully." Instead of answering, she made a mad dash for her bow and arrows, barely making it before he attacked again. He moved with a speed that belied his size and it put Kagome at a great disadvantage, since she had hoped to be able to outmaneuver him.

She quickly drew an arrow and let it fly, watching as the softly glowing arrow flew true to its target. She watched in awe as the arrow merely bounced off of the ogre's skin and embedded itself into the Goshinboku. 'I am SO screwed,' she thought miserably.

The fight continued but the only thing keeping Kagome from certain death was her weakening barrier. Neither her Hama no Ya nor directly channeling miko energy into the ogre were having any affect. Her arrows were also too weak to pierce the ogre's thick skin. She needed a sword, badly. She did not dare to go inside to retrieve her sword though, for fear of what the ogre would do while she was inside.

She needed to end this soon, before the rest of her energy was drained. She was still trying to come up with a plan when the unthinkable happened--she saw Souta reach the top of the shrine steps. "Souta! NO! Run away!" she screamed desperately. She watched in slow motion as he began to run towards her, unaware of the ogre that now stood behind him. She put all of her energy into creating a barrier around him just as the ogre's club made contact with his back.

She watched in shock as the club connected and her baby brother was thrown over thirty feet into the side of the house, where he crumpled on the ground, unconscious, blood leaking from a cut in his forehead. Even though her barrier was still around him, her barriers for others had never been as good as the barriers she could cast around herself. She saw the ogre moving towards her brother, preparing for what she knew would be a killing blow. It was the last straw.

She dropped all of the masking on her energy, knowing the huge spike in energy would draw more youkai, but more concerned with gathering as much power as possible. She pulled as much energy as she could handle from the shrine and the Goshinboku and poured all it all into her brother's shield just as the ogre's club connected.

Kagome watched the pink explosion radiate outward from the club and blow the ogre away from her brother. Just as she had expected, it had not killed the ogre, but it had disoriented him enough that she could safely get her brother inside, where the wards on the house would protect him--for a time. She struggled to drag him into the relative safety of the house, the huge drain on her energy taking its toll physically as her limbs refused to work properly. Finally, he was safe.

She stepped back outside to find that the ogre had regained his bearings and he was looking very, very pissed. She would need a miracle to survive this encounter. She just didn't have the skill necessary to defeat such a tough opponent who was also immune to holy energy. She gathered what remained of her energy for one last stand. She watched impassively as the ogre charged, waiting until the last minute to erect a flimsy barrier to protect her vital organs. She felt the sickening crunch as her ribs took almost the full impact of the blow, her barrier only slightly slowing the swing.

Just before her world went black, she thought she saw a pair of crimson eyes swimming in a sea of black. "Hiei," she whispered before she slipped into oblivion.

-- --

Hiei and Kurama arrived at the shrine just in time to hear the distinct sound of bones breaking. Even with Hiei's speed, he could not prevent the club from connecting with Kagome, though he was able to catch her before she crashed into the well house. He was even more surprised when she opened her eyes and smiled at him, whispering his name. He took one look at her injuries and the trickle of blood running from her mouth and his world went blood red. Someone was going to _die_.

The Jagan burned through the bandanna on his forehead, it's blow glow an eerie contrast to his glowing crimson eyes. Most of the miko energy had been removed from the air, yet it still crackled around him as the black flames of Hell began swirling around his body. Hiei watched as Kurama fought with the ogre while trying to get closer to the injured boy lying just inside the door to the house.

Hiei slowly approached the ogre, aware that Kagome needed attention badly, but wanting to savor the torture he was about to inflict. With black flames dancing around his body and his sword, Hiei easily sliced through the muscles and bones of the ogre's arms. He ignored the ogre's pleas for mercy as he sliced through his legs just above the knee. With the ogre missing both his arms and legs, he was no longer a threat as he slowly bled to death.

Hiei turned to Kurama who was tending the boy Hiei recognized as Kagome's younger brother. "I trust you can handle it from here?"

Kurama looked at the writhing ogre and nodded. "Hurt her and I'll kill you," he told Hiei seriously, golden eyes glinting in the late afternoon sun. Hiei barely inclined his head and went to pick up his precious cargo. Kagome's breathing was uneven and weak, but it did not appear to be any worse than when he left her.

Hiei thought about taking Kagome to Yukina for healing, but he decided that he did not want to answer all of the questions that would be thrown his way, especially any questions Botan or Koenma might have. Although it was well know that he was the Forbidden Child, half ice and half fire, it was a highly guarded secret that he actually inherited the ice maidens' ability to heal. Granted, it did require a huge amount of concentration on his part to subdue his more dominant fire half, but it was a possible feat.

With that thought in mind he stepped through a portal into the Makai, heading for his nearest hideout, a place even Kurama did not know about. He was not sure why he was so reluctant to let Yukina, Botan, or Kurama heal her, but the thought of Youko's paws all over her body was enough to convince him that he was doing the right thing.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review!**


	17. The Makai

Finally, this chapter is done. I know it's taken me forever, and believe me, I have some great excuses (umm... my dog ate it?), but it's done at last. I do plan to finish the story, and if I could ever get Kagome back into the past it would certainly help things along, but it may be a while between updates. This chapter is longer than usual to make up for the long update time. Next chapter expect some Kag/Hiei fluff before I send Kagome packing to the past (hopefully?).

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review, you are awesome!**

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

This was the fourth time he had been stopped in the last half an hour he had been traveling with the miko. Her pure, weak aura was like a shining beacon, drawing hundreds of youkai to their location. It also didn't help that now that her energy was depleted and she could no longer mask it, he also felt another very strong source of energy coming from her limp form. Hiei had attempted to mask her energy with his own after the first time he was stopped, but it did not seem to be helping. In fact, if he didn't know better, he would say a youkai traveling with an injured miko seemed to be drawing _more_ demons.

Generally it would not be a problem to merely outrun the demons following him, but he was burdened by the girl and, not that he would admit it, he was trying to move carefully to prevent causing her more pain. This last time, though, he had been forced to drop her to the ground in order to fight the mass of youkai surrounding him. The youkai themselves were weak and easily dispatched, but their mob tactics were giving Hiei some trouble. He found it was difficult to both guard the miko and kill off a hundred youkai simultaneously. He had almost let one get too close last time and the result was its blood was now splattered all over the miko's helpless form.

Hiei thought, not for the first time, that this may have been a bad idea. As he looked at the blood-covered form of the petite miko lying in the snow, he almost regretted his decision to bring her into the Makai. Almost. However, the thought of another touching her while she was so obviously venerable made his eyes narrow in displeasure and an irritated growl rumble through his chest. He was still growling as he picked her up to continue the journey. Only a few more miles and they would be safe behind the traps and barriers of his home. Hiei raced away in the perpetual gloom that dominated the sky in the icy northernmost Makai.

--

Kurama sighed as he watched the ogre continue to struggle on the ground. He decided it would probably be best if Kagome's family did not return to find Kagome missing, her brother with a slight concussion, _and_ a giant ogre bleeding to death in their front yard. He pulled out one of his many seeds and slowly fed it his youki until a towering carnivorous plant was formed. He pointed to the ogre and watched in mild disgust as the plant tore into its meal. By the time it was finished, it had even managed to suck most of the blood off the concrete covered ground.

He had done all he could for Souta, luckily the boy should wake up with a splitting headache and not much more. Kurama was almost positive that Kagome had pulled energy from the shrine to protect her brother. Not only was he still alive and only slightly harmed, while she herself had taken a nearly fatal blow, the energy around the shrine was extremely low. Normally he could feel the purity in the air; now there was only the barest hint of miko energy surrounding the Goshinboku. He hoped she hadn't done herself serious harm in channeling such a huge amount of energy through her own body. '_She'll be fine,'_ Youko intoned quietly, '_Hiei will take good care of her.'_ His voice sounded almost bitter. Before Kurama had a chance to ask him anything else, Youko retreated to sulk by himself. _'It's all in the past, anyway...'_ was his last parting thought.

--

Hiei nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he finally set foot in his territory. Sure, he may not have visited in a few decades, but his barriers, wards, and traps let him know that he was home. He would no longer have to worry about the constantly growing mob following his every step. Only a very few would even make it to the inner barrier. After that, no one would make it through unless he specifically allowed it.

He was not quite sure what had prompted him to come to this place. He rarely visited, only checking in every fifty years to so, just to make sure it was still there and all of the barriers were still intact. In fact, he had not stayed there since... _then_. His traitorous mind tempted him with sounds of his own happy laughter and the indistinct form of a woman twirling happily in front of the house. That was the problem with this place, memories that were supposed to be successfully buried had a tendency to reassert themselves.

One first sight, the house looked like any traditional, small Japanese home, built up against the face of the rocky cliff. In the frigid air, steam could be seen rising behind the house, giving away the fact that a hot spring resided there. Hiei didn't pay attention to any of these details as he barged roughly into the house and through to what would be considered the master bedroom. There, a cleverly hidden door opened into the cave system that was carved into the solid stone behind the house.

As he closed the door behind him, the darkness was suddenly lifted as the torches along the wall sprang to life, tuned to use his youki to generate the fire. He unleashed a tiny bit more of his aura and watched as the torches lit the way up the tunnel into the main area of the cave. Hiei stepped into what could only be the great room of the cave and the huge bonfire in the middle of the room lit, quickly adding heat to the cold room.

Since all of the fire in the cave was generated by his youki, there was no smoke and therefore no need for holes in the roof that would just let rain and other undesirables in. There were a few tiny ventilation shafts that were impossible to find from the outside and nearly as hard to spot from in the cave itself. These allowed fresh air into the cave, but also allowed the cold to creep in when the fire was not burning. It was because of this that Hiei had all of the fires specifically set to use his youki. If he needed to leave but wanted the fire to continue, he could "charge up" the system with extra energy to keep it going for days or weeks at a time.

He turned left and walked down a short hallway into the bathing room of the cave system. The same hot spring that was behind the house actually wound it's way through the rocky cliff, creating a natural bathing area that was constantly refreshed by slowly running water. He looked at the bloody miko in his arms and then promptly dropped her into the warm water, expecting her to come up spluttering. He hated to admit it, but he was concerned when all her heard was a small moan as she hit the water before she promptly started sinking.

He quickly unstrapped his katana before jumping in after her. 'I guess I needed to wash these clothes anyway,' was his sarcastic thought. He watched her take a small breath as her head cleared the surface of the water. 'At least she didn't drown. That really would've been a perfect end to my already stellar day.' Hiei stayed in the spring for a bit longer until most of the blood had been washed from the miko's body. Then he jumped out, still firmly holding the girl, grabbed his katana, and headed back to the main room of the cave.

It was the warmest room and getting warmer by the second due to the large fire, but it was still too cold to wear sopping wet clothes. Hiei sighed. 'I'll have to remove her clothes, at least the top layers. I'm not sure there is a better way to guarantee my purification, but it's the only way to keep her from catching pneumonia. Stupid weak human immune system.'

Hiei laid the miko on a pallet near the fire and then he carefully peeled off her shirt, both relieved and disappointed to see she still had a large piece of stretchy cloth covering her breasts. He noticed a small bottle attached to a chain around her neck. The bottle appeared to be wrapped in a paper ward and it managed send a very painful bolt of holy energy through his system as he reached out to touch it.

This bottle also seemed to be the source of the mysterious power he had been sensing. Hiei had learned long ago to only depend on his own skill and energy instead of any quick fixes that promised more power instantly. However, he was still intrigued by what the bottle might hold and he made a mental note to check it out after he healed the miko.

Hiei continued examining the girl and he winced in sympathy at the large dark red, purple, and black bruise spanning her entire left side. The color hinted at internal bleeding as well as broken ribs. He was just relieved that she didn't seem to have punctured a lung. He quickly removed her soggy pants and ran an appreciative eye over her nearly nude form. As soon as he realized what he was doing he snorted in disgust and turned to more important matters.

'It's been a while since I've needed to heal anyone,' Hiei thought absently as he sat down on Kagome's left side and gently placed his hands over the worst of her bruising. He evened his breathing and relaxed his mind until he dropped into a light form of meditation. He then fought back his dominant fire half until he found the soft blue light of his healing abilities hidden deep within his soul. He tugged on the power and was not surprised that it resisted his efforts. However Hiei was known for his iron control and he exerted this over the power, watching in satisfaction as it began flowing into the miko next to him.

Five minutes later, Hiei frowned. Something was wrong. The miko did not look to be at all improved--in fact, she seemed worse, if that was possible. He watched the healing energy sink into her body only to have no effect. Realization hit him, 'she's purifying my energy before it has a chance to heal her!' Hiei knew that even though the energy was healing in nature, it was still youki. The tiny bit of miko energy left in her body saw the invading youki as a threat as was attempting to purify it.

Hiei gritted his teeth and dumped more energy into the miko, trying to overpower her natural defense. Little did he know how tenacious she could be. The next few hours were some of the most miserable in Hiei's recent memory. He not only had to fight against his other half to keep healing the miko, he also had to dump massive amounts of energy into her just to prevent it all from being purified on contact.

When Kagome was finally healed enough that the bruise was only a sickly shade of yellow and her internal injuries were cured, Hiei was bone-weary and about ready to just feed her to the wolves. Only his stubborn determination had kept him going for so long while using such an enormous amount of his youki.

He was barely able to pull a blanket over the girl and crawl the few feet to his own pallet, shedding most of his stiff, damp clothes on the way. He fell into warm blankets and immediately passed out. As soon as he slipped into oblivion, all of the fire in the cave went out, his body unconsciously deciding that the youki required to run the torches was better used as a reserve than wasted on unneeded heat and light.

--

Kagome awoke slowly. She was sore and shivering--never a good combination. Her brain was fuzzy and she was having a hard time remembering why she felt like she had been hit by a bus. Her body also felt strange... like there was fire in her blood. She frowned and concentrated, surprised to find her extremely weak miko energy trying to purify a good deal of healing youki in her system. The struggle between the two was causing the burning sensation. 'But why...' just as she began the thought it all came back to her. 'Souta! I have to get to him!' she thought frantically.

She called off the miko energy in her blood and was relieved as the healing youki took away some of the pain in her ribs. She opened her eyes into pitch blackness. Even with her hand inches aways from her face, she could see nothing. "Am I blind?" she whispered hoarsely, her voice rough with sleep. She reached out with miko energy, trying to make up for the lack of sight, only to find that sense almost as dulled. She thought there might be a youkai in the same room with her, but she couldn't tell where or who it was.

She tried to cast a barrier or pull energy into her hands, but nothing happened. She cast her sight inwards, trying to see her energy. What she found surprised her. She still had plenty of energy, though it was probably smaller by half than normal. It was glowing more white than the normal pinkish tint, but other than that, everything seemed fine. She mentally tugged on it, not expecting the resistance she felt. Her energy had never been this difficult since she had learned how to wield it.

She pulled forcefully, commanding the energy to submit to her will, and her world was lit up--both with miko sight and earth shattering pain. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, the pain taking away her voice. It felt like she was being ripped in half, like she was being torn limb from limb, like her soul was being forcefully purged from her body...

'Wait, this feels exactly like when Urasue tried to steal my soul for Kikyo's clay body. That... that is my soul?' she thought in amazement, even as the pain continued to pound through her very being. She carefully let go of the energy she had been holding, watching in silent awe as it slowly merged back with the rest of the energy in her body. As soon as it was back where it belonged, the pain ceased. 'Amazing. What I thought was entirely my energy is actually my miko energy wrapped around my soul.' Kagome slowly contemplated the thought. 'I can use my soul as miko energy, but at what cost?'

When her miko sight had been restored for those few precious seconds, Kagome was able to tell that it was Hiei in the room with her, though his energy was drastically lower than it should have been. 'I wonder if it was his youki that was healing me?' she thought absently. Also, they were surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of youkai, though they were all quite far away.

"I don't know where we are, but I have to get back to the shrine. I need to see Souta." she spoke quietly, listening as her voice echoed slightly. "Hiei!" she called louder, expecting the usual grumbled response. Instead, silence answered her. "He must really be out of it, I guess I'm going to have to go over there to wake him up, talk about taking my life into my own hands." Kagome complained lightly as she sat up, every muscle protesting the action.

As she sat up, she noticed two things. First, it was much, much colder without the blanket surrounding her. And secondly, she was only wearing her sports bra and panties. 'I'm not even going to think about it. It must have been for a good reason, because Hiei doesn't exactly strike me as the type to ogle "stupid ningens" when they are unconscious'.

After two unsuccessful attempts to stand, Kagome decided she would have to crawl. She wrapped the blanket tightly around her, trying to preserve the little amount of warmth she had left. The stone was cold and rough against her hands and knees as she slowly made her way towards Hiei. She could still clearly recall where she had sensed his aura, even if she could not feel it now.

As she drew closer and closer to where he should be, she grew more and more anxious that she was heading the wrong direction. She could see nothing in the deep black of the room, she was freezing, and her body ached like she had been crawling for hours, though she knew that she had only traveled a few feet at best. At last, she felt something soft under her right hand. It felt very similar to the pallet that she had been sleeping on.

"Finally", she breathed. "Now, how is the best way to wake him without dying?" she asked herself quietly. "Hiei!" she called sharply, the echo reverberating in her ears. She sensed no movement and heard no sounds from the pallet in front of her. 'Is he even here?' She moved closer, carefully reaching out to avoid crawling on him. The next time time she moved her hand forward, it came into contact with a warm, smooth, hard expanse of flesh.

She jerked back as if burned, but it was too late. The next thing she knew, she was flat on her back with Hiei straddling her, slowly squeezing the air from her lungs, growling viciously. "Hiei," she gasped, "it's me..." she trailed off, preserving the rest of her precious air for survival. She truly began to panic when she realized that the growling wasn't abating and she could not draw any air into her lungs. She tried to summon her energy to help her, but, as expected, nothing happened. 'He could kill me and there's nothing I can do,' she thought as fear lanced through her heart.

--

Hiei was brought abruptly from sleep as an icy hand landed on his chest. His youki was extremely low and his first instinct was to attack. If he had the energy, he would have transformed to his full demon form. He looked down at the person who had the audacity to attack him, his eyes easily cutting through the darkness, and was surprised to find a pale ningen in his grasp. A woman, no less. She looked up at him with huge eyes, whispering something he didn't catch over the sound of his own growling. It was obvious she couldn't see, though she kept trying to peer through the darkness.

He watched as her eyes filled with panic and her scent became laced with fear. He realized she could not breathe; his hand was wrapped tightly around her delicate neck. He slightly loosened his grip, allowing her to take in deep, gasping breaths of air. He leaned closer and inhaled her scent. It was intoxicating, she smelled delicious, her own natural scent and his faint but distinct scent clung to her, but the lingering smell of fear burned his nose. He generally loved the smell of fear, but coming from her, he just wanted to kill whatever was causing her fear. It was perplexing and he frowned at this new discovery.

As he began to calm down, his youkai instincts began to fade and his rational mind started taking over. This woman was Kagome and he had brought her to the Makai to heal her. He let go of her and sat back, watching as she began shivering again once his warmth was removed. "Kagome," he stated calmly, his stoic facade back in place, "what are you doing?"

Kagome looked toward the sound of his voice, wishing she could see his face. She coughed slightly, ignoring the urge to rub her abused throat. 'I was trying not to be strangled to death, idiot,' was her first thought. She snorted softly as she thought about what his reaction would be. She decided on a more tactful approach. "I was trying to find you so that I could go home and check on Souta. Where are we?" she tried for the same calm coolness that laced his voice.

"We are in the Makai. Souta is fine, Kurama was with him when I left. You are not strong enough to fight your way back to the portal, and I will not carry you again. We still stay here until you regain your strength." Hiei conveniently forgot to mention that he was also much weaker than he would have liked.

The question was burning in her mind and she had to know, "Hiei, why did you bring me here?"

"Hn. Go back to sleep. You need to heal so we can leave." With that, Hiei moved back to his pallet and laid down, leaving Kagome shivering in the dark.

"Of all the stupid, pig headed, stubborn, egotistical..." Kagome muttered darkly. She was freezing, it was dark, and Hiei was being an ass. Could things get any worse? 'I didn't mean it, really, please don't rain frogs or something,' she quickly implored the heavens. Slowly a plan began to form. Her bed was way over there, but Hiei's was right here. Not to mention that because he was half fire demon, he was warm. A positively evil smile pulled at her mouth.

Hiei had to suppress the smile that wanted to break through as he watched Kagome shiver in the dark and call him names all the while. He watched as she looked in his direction and smiled in a way that could only spell trouble for him. He watched her crawl closer and closer, until she hit the edge of the pallet, the smile still firmly in place. "Ningen, don't even think about touching me."

"Just hold still and I won't have to touch you." Kagome carefully unwrapped the blanket from her body and found the long side of the fabric. Wrapping it around her hands, she gently laid it out next to Hiei, being careful that only the fabric touched him. Next she slowly laid down, making sure that none of her body came into contact with his. Then she wrapped the rest of the blanket around her, totally encasing her in a blanket cocoon. She was actually fairly surprised that he hadn't complained yet. Now for the best part of her plan. She oh so slowly wiggled over closer to him, until her blanket wrapped self was snugly tucked into his side. She could already feel the heat from his body seeping into her hands through the blanket.

"I thought I said not to touch me." Hiei was secretly relieved to see her shivering stop, and he had to give her credit for being fearless, even after he had just tried to throttle her.

"I'm not touching you Hiei. I'm touching the blanket, that's all." As she said it, she wiggled her fingers that were pressed up against the blanket and the side of his chest. "See? All I feel is blanket." She smiled innocently up at where she guessed his face was. The fact that he hadn't moved yet was a good sign. Maybe she would get to stay warm tonight after all.

Hiei sighed heavily. He could move, but that would involve a lot of work, and whether or not he would admit it, it was kind of nice to have her snuggled up so close to his body. He sat up and heard her moan quietly in protest, but it was only to get his own blanket to cover them both. He laid back down and seemingly without thought her head became pillowed on his shoulder as his arm wrapped gently around her. "Goodnight, Kagome," he told her already lightly sleeping form.


	18. Closer

So I've decided to give Word another shot. I'm tired of my page counts showing up wrong, and hopefully the bugs I ran into before have been worked out. We'll see.

In other news, I went back and read this story from the beginning. Yes, it's been long enough that even I forgot where I'd been. I noticed some glaring grammatical and plot errors, but I'll let them slide for now. My problem seems to be that I edit while typing, and don't really go back to double check. Works okay most of the time, but occasionally, not so well (see "venerable" last chapter). Maybe if I decide to reformat the chapters, I'll do a bit of cleanup along the way.

Enough with my yakking, on with the story!

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review! You're really the inspiration that kept me from abandoning the story!**

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Kagome awoke slowly, the layers of sleep parting gently, propelling her toward consciousness. For one blissful second, everything was right with the world. She was warm and content, she felt safe, loved, and protected, and she felt as if she just had her most restful night of sleep in a long, long time.

The bliss wasn't meant to last, though, and before she could once again fall into dreamland, her memory of the past day came crashing back. 'Souta! How could I have forgotten, my family must be distraught!' she thought frantically. She opened her eyes, grateful that she could barely see in the gloom of wherever she was. 'I'm not blind!' She struggled to sit up, but all it achieved was the tightening of the arm around her and a soft growl near the back of her neck.

She froze, her overactive imagination running wild until she remembered she had crawled over next to Hiei the night before. She seriously wished she had a camera. 'Imagine the amount of blackmail that picture would be worth. To see him spooning me would ruin his macho reputation. He'd probably give me anything for it!' she thought evilly.

She frowned as her thoughts turned serious. 'I still can barely feel his youki and he's sleeping right next to me. I probably wouldn't feel it at all if I were in another room. Not only that, but it has to have been eight hours or more since I was last awake and my power doesn't seem to have regenerated at all, or only a tiny bit.'

Kagome oh-so-carefully lifted Hiei's arm and settled it down next to him, allowing her to sit up. She carefully wrapped the blanket around her and slowly stood up. She was still wobbly, but she found she could stand without much pain. A quiet snicker alerted her that her companion was perhaps not as asleep as she assumed. She turned around to see his wide-open eyes shining in amusement. It was a breathtaking sight, at least until he opened his mouth.

"Where are you sneaking off to, miko? That is, if it could really be called sneaking with all the noise you were making."

"For your information, I _was_ being quiet, though I wasn't _sneaking_ anywhere, I was just going to find a place to bathe. After all, I did have a rather rough day yesterday and sleeping on the hard floor didn't help," Kagome huffed. "And my name is Kagome, I'm sure you can remember it if you try really, really hard."

"If I recall, Ka-Go-Me, you spent most of the night sleeping on _me_, not the floor," at this Hiei's smirk turned into a full-out grin, growing wider the more Kagome turned red.

'I like the playful side of him, he should do it more often, even if it is at my expense,' Kagome caught herself thinking. "Um… could you point me in the direction of someplace I could bathe… hopefully someplace warm?"

Hiei sprang lightly to his feet with an ease Kagome envied. 'If only I could be that graceful for once in my life,' she thought wistfully. However all thoughts were erased when she heard Hiei's voice close to her ear, "Follow me, I'll show you where you can bathe," his voice was husky and his breath fanning across her neck did funny things to the butterflies in her stomach.

Hiei's eyes glowed approvingly as he caught the spike of arousal laced through her scent. '_Mine!_' his instincts screamed, much closer to the surface than normal due to his severely depleted youki. He shook his head to clear his errant thoughts, "This way."

He headed down the hall without checking to see if Kagome followed. He was having a hard time reasserting his iron control and his emotions seemed to be all over the place, especially those centered on the miko.

"Um, Hiei, are you still there?" Kagome asked tentatively. She could no longer see in the deep darkness of the tunnel they were following and her limited miko sight could not tell exactly where Hiei was. She didn't want to walk past him in the dark, or even worse, do walk off the edge of a hole in the path.

Hiei looked back and realized the girl could no longer see. He also realized that all of the torches remained off, even though he was awake. He reached out with his youki to light the nearest torch, surprised at the drain he felt from that small action. He watched, amused, as the miko jumped slightly and held a hand to her chest in shock of the sudden light. "Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you, I can see again. I didn't want to get lost in the dark, my energy is so low I'm not able to sense anything clearly," she admitted grudgingly.

"You can't sense me?"

"Errr… no." Kagome looked down in embarrassment. She was still slightly wary about revealing too much, but for some reason she felt she could trust Hiei. "When I was attacked by that _thing_, I couldn't do anything. It was completely immune to my miko energy and my arrows were too weak to pierce its skin. I didn't have my sword because I had been relaxing outside, enjoying the day. My barrier was doing an okay job of protecting me, but it was quickly weakening."

"Then my brother showed up and the ogre went after him. I placed a barrier around him, but it wasn't enough to block the force of the blow and Souta was thrown against the house. While he was out, the ogre was going to deal a deathblow. I snapped. I dropped my barriers and pulled all of the energy from the shrine to protect Souta. It worked, but it still did not have any effect on the ogre. I managed to get Souta to the safety of the house, but I had very little energy left to protect myself. I believe you must have arrived right after I used the last of my energy to create a barrier protecting my vital organs, and even then it wasn't very effective."

Kagome looked up and met his eyes, "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Thank you." She said it with a quiet sincerity that leant power to the words.

Hiei's first instinct was to scoff and belittle her words of gratitude with a sharp comment, but something in the way they were delivered stilled his tongue. She wasn't just saying the words; she meant them with all of her soul. He was not sure he'd ever been thanked like that before, it was easy to say the words, but to really, truly mean them was something completely different.

"You're welcome," he responded softly.

Kagome's smile was brilliant as she walked up beside Hiei. "So, how about that bath?" she asked lightly, her smile and voice dispelling the somber attitude.

Hiei continued down the tunnel, ending in the bathing chamber. He stepped inside and let his youki light the torch, simultaneously letting the torch in the tunnel go dark. He was disgusted that he was so weak that merely keeping the torches going was a drain, but it couldn't be helped. "Miko, here is the bath. I will have to remain in this room unless you would prefer to bathe in the dark."

Kagome stopped her outraged comment when she noticed Hiei was already looking rather angry. 'I'd rather not bathe in the dark and it's not like he would want to peek at me anyway,' she thought somewhat sadly. She moved closer to the water, gratified to see it steaming slightly. 'A hot spring, that's just what I need to relieve the last of my sore muscles.'

"Uh, Hiei, would you mind turning around while I bathe?" she asked. She watched as he turned his back to her. After watching for a few more seconds to make sure he wasn't going to peek, she dropped the blanket and removed her bra and underwear. She sank slowly into the heated water, moaning slightly as her muscles relaxed. She didn't notice Hiei's back stiffen at the sound.

She finished washing her hair and body and was content to just soak for a while. She remembered that Hiei was waiting for her, but she was extremely reluctant to leave the water. 'Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone,' she thought.

"Hiei, I'd like to stay and soak a while longer, but I don't want to keep you waiting…. so I was wondering if you would like to bathe now." She sank lower in the water and stuttered a bit when his blazing gaze was directed towards her. "I mean… it's just that I could stay over on this side and soak with my eyes closed…. and um… you, you could bathe over there and we'd both get done about the same time." Her cheeks heated in embarrassment. "I promise to keep my eyes closed the entire time, and this pool is pretty big. But if you don't want to, that's fine, I can get out now." She tried hard to keep the disappointment of leaving the spring so soon from her voice.

Kagome was actually slightly amazed when Hiei moved to the side of the spring and started removing what was left of his clothes. As soon as she realized what he was doing she closed her eyes. The place where she was sitting was perfect for soaking and seemed to be designed exactly for that purpose, since the chair like seat was carved with a place for her legs that kept her head above water even when she was completely relaxed.

She tensed a bit when she heard Hiei enter the water, but soon forgot about him as her thoughts drifted off.

Hiei, on the other hand, could not forget about the vixen sharing the bath with him. Her brazen question had caught him off guard, but he knew it was just her desire to look out for others that forced her to ask him to join her. She didn't want to inconvenience him. It was a part of her nature that he just couldn't understand. How could she be so selfless? He tucked the thought away for later contemplation.

Hiei glanced at her again. Although it was obvious that she had drifted off to sleep, he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her. Her face was flushed with the heat of the water and her skin glowed with tiny water droplets in the torchlight. Overall she was a vision of loveliness, a water nymph caught unawares, and he was moving toward her before he knew what he was doing.

Without even trying she managed to circumvent his famous self-control. He should be angry, furious, but he couldn't seem to pull those emotions forward. He blamed it on his low energy levels and set about waking the miko.

Before his hand make contact with her shoulder, Hiei realized that they both needed new clothes to wear. His were still wearable, though they were dirty, but hers had been shredded last night when he removed them from her unconscious form. She couldn't stay wrapped in the blanket forever, though the thought of her clad only in a short blanket sent a bolt of fire racing through his blood.

He quickly pulled his hand back and exited the water. He had spare clothes here, but he didn't have anything for a female. He looked at her again and figured she could probably wear his clothes as well. He briefly thought about waking the miko before he left, but he figured he would be back before she awoke on her own, and then she would have clothes to wear. He dumped some precious youki into the torch to keep it lit while he was gone and went in search of clothes.

Kagome awoke with a start to find herself still in the hot spring. She looked around but didn't see Hiei, though the torch was still burning. She was just about to pull herself out of the water and search for him when he returned, dressed and carrying another bundle of clothes.

"These are for you." He dropped the clothes near her discarded blanket and turned his back to her. She quickly slipped out of the water and dried using the blanket. She looked at the wet underwear and bra she had washed while she was bathing and wrinkled her nose. 'I really don't want to put those back on yet, perhaps after they dry for a while.'

She shrugged and looked at the clothes Hiei had brought, not surprised to see a duplicate of his outfit, a black sleeveless shirt and black pants. She quickly pulled on the pants. They fit pretty well, the waist was a bit loose but she was curvier than Hiei, so the pants hung off her hips like a pair of ultra low-rise jeans. She normally wouldn't wear her pants so low, but at least they weren't falling off. Next came the shirt. She struggled a bit to get it on, since it was obviously _not_ designed for a woman. Whereas it showed off Hiei's flat chest to perfection, it clung indecently to her breasts, leaving nothing to the imagination.

She inspected the end result. 'I look like a slut,' she thought despairingly, 'but I guess it beats the blanket.' She quickly gathered up the rest of her things and went to stand beside Hiei. "I'm ready." She felt his eyes on her, but she didn't dare meet his gaze. He moved off without a word.

Kagome was unaware of the turmoil her appearance caused her companion. Seeing the miko in his clothes was doing all sorts of terrible things to his instincts. His inner youkai had already decided they were at least courting and now seeing her in his clothes, a sure sign that marked her as his, was wreaking havoc on his control. He silently led her back to the main room of the cave system.

It had been at least fifteen minutes since Hiei had led her back into the room she woke up in and then disappeared. She was worried that Hiei was disgusted with her clothes, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Luckily, the torches had stayed on, so she could see.

Kagome had too much nervous energy built up to meditate, so she decided to get up and move around to hopefully calm her rattled nerves. She stood and walked away from the fire, glad the room was large enough to let her move freely. She held her hands in front of her, imagining she was gripping the hilt of her katana.

She began slowly, running through the simplest of katas that Sango had taught her. As she progressed, her moves became more fluid and graceful, her body naturally fell into the positions ingrained incessantly by Sango. The familiar feel of the katas helped to settle her mind and let her drop into a light form of meditation. She was glad to see that her energy had regenerated a little, still not enough to really use, but it was visible as a pinkish swirl to her inner eye. She hoped this meant that she had not done permanent damage by channeling so much energy.

Hiei silently watched the girl running through her katas, watched as her body lost its tenseness and started flowing beautifully into the poses. The clothes he had given her were positively sinful as she moved and stretched; he was sure he had never made the clothes look that good. The pants were slung low, accentuating her flat stomach, narrow waist, and curvy hips. The shirt was tight across her chest, highlighting each perfect breast. Stopping the desire before it could even begin, he flashed out of the room, returning with two swords. He watched the kata, recognizing it from his own training. He waited until the perfect moment, then stepped in front of the girl, bringing his sheathed sword up to gently connect with her hands.

Kagome's eyes popped open as she was startled out of her routine. Hiei was standing in front of her, a positively wicked smile on his face. 'That can't mean anything good for me,' she thought. She noticed he was also carrying two swords. "Hey Hiei, did you need something?"

He gestured to the swords, "Care to spar? Or have someone to practice your katas with?" he asked.

Kagome swallowed nervously, furiously trying to think of a reason why she couldn't spar with him. She wasn't really afraid of him, but the thought of him wielding a sword near her was not exactly comforting either. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Hiei. I don't want to hurt you," at his raised eyebrow and skeptical look she continued, "or risk you hurting me. I think I'm okay on my own."

"You think I have so little control that I would actually hurt you?" Hiei asked calmly.

'A little too calmly,' Kagome thought, 'he must be pissed.' She really didn't see any other way to sooth him than to agree so she grudgingly said, "That's not what I said Hiei, I'm sure you have perfect control. If you want to spar so badly, then let's get started. I will continue my katas and you can join once you recognize them. After those are finished, we can do some actual sparring if you would like." She held out her hand for the katana.

Hiei suppressed his smile at how easy the girl was to manipulate and handed her the extra katana. He watched her quickly draw the sword and admire its balance and handling. "This is a beautiful blade, Hiei, thank you for letting me use it."

She frowned, remembering where she was when Hiei interrupted. Her movements were hesitant at first, afraid she would actually cut Hiei if he didn't perform the correct block. As the kata progressed, she realized he knew exactly what he was doing and that she would not need to hold back. 'Besides, he's a youkai, even if I did manage to hit him, it's not going to do that much damage.' With that thought, she let go of the rest of her worry, letting her training take over.

Hiei was impressed as the miko continued through a set of increasingly difficult katas. 'She's actually pretty good for a human.'

Kagome came to rest in the last position of her final kata, swords locked with Hiei, and smiled. "Thanks, Hiei. That was fun." She was sweating slightly and was breathing slightly faster than normal, but she was far from exhausted. "Care to spar now? I know I won't be much of a challenge against your speed, since I don't often get to train with youkai, but if you slow down a bit, I might be able to keep up. Just don't cut me up too much since I can't cast a barrier to protect myself, okay?"

Hiei nodded and dropped into a defensive stance. Kagome quickly dropped into an offensive crouch and slashed at Hiei's left side. She was not surprised when the blow was neatly blocked and Hiei launched a counterattack. She went on the defensive, blocking each of his blows and trying to find any weaknesses in his moves. He was good, even slowing himself down to her speed did not decrease his skill with the blade.

She was slowly loosing ground, being forced to retreat step by step. She did manage to get a few attacks in to gain a few precious steps but overall she was on the defensive. Hiei had not managed to land a blow yet, but she was sure it was because he was holding back as much as it was from her skill.

It didn't help that she kept noticing the play of his muscles as he wielded the sword. The butterflies were back and more active than ever, distracting her from her task.

Hiei growled approvingly as he caught the scent of her increasing arousal. Answering desire was running thickly through his blood, the sparring only causing the desire to increase as his instincts were close to the surface. He almost had her where he wanted her, just a couple more attacks… 'Perfect!'

Kagome gasped as her sword was knocked from her hand and she was pressed up against the wall of the cavern before she even saw him move. For some reason, she was not scared of him, though he once again had a hand wrapped around her neck. This time it was wrapped gently, not blocking her air, just holding her in place. She could feel every inch of his body pressed up against her. She slowly looked up and met his eyes.

"Do you yield, Kagome?" he asked huskily, his voice alone sending shivers down her spine.

Her eyes widened at the question, though a traditional end to a sparring session, she had never heard it quite so… _suggestive_.

"Yes," she breathed, hoping she had made the correct choice.

Hiei's inner youkai howled with victory, clawing to get free, but Hiei kept it on a tight leash as he slowly lowered his head and captured the miko's sweet lips.

'He's… he's kissing me,' was Kagome's last coherent thought.

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I'm sorry it's taken me an unforgivable amount of time to get this chapter written. Hopefully I will stay inspired and updates will be more frequent, but no promises. :)


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